Health economists help with achieving value for money by informing and improving decision-making about the allocation of scarce healthcare resources. Evidence on appropriate polypharmacy management is showing that this can be a policy intervention that is both clinically and cost-effective, helping to allocate today’s resources most efficiently and also helping to prevent avoidable future resource use.
For me, the SIMPATHY project has added to this evidence base on a European level, and, although there are country-specific differences in the approach and policy towards polypharmacy management, there has been evidence of the clinical and economic benefits throughout. The suite of change management tools in particular, including templates for PESTEL and SWOT analyses and an economic assessment tool, will be helpful to local decision makers across Europe in assessing what clinical and financial benefits appropriate polypharmacy management can bring to their area, helping them to shift the balance of health and social care towards prevention in the current climate of tight public spending.
by Nils Michael
- Case studies were conducted in nine locations across the EU. To learn more click here
- One of the milestones of the project was the development of a toolset for change management and strategic polypharmacy planning. Health Economysts can find these results in deliverables D5.1 and D5.2. Click here to go to Deliverables page.