Which method of financial analysis is most appropriate for a diabetic screening program? Provide your rationale.The best financial analysis method that can track the costs as well as the effectiveness of a diabetes screening program is the Cost-utility economic analysis. Unlike the cost-benefit ratio analysis where the costs and benefits are expressed in monetary units, the cost-utility analysis expresses the health benefits in a more natural unit of measurement in the case of a disease such as diabetes. These units include quality of adjusted life years (QALY) and/or per life year gained (LYG) (Zhang, Engelgau, Norris, Gregg, & Narayan, 2004).
What are the financial implications of not addressing diabetes within the African American community?The African American minority group in the United States exhibits a huge prevalence of diabetes. Statistically, the total costs for preventing and controlling diabetes, direct and indirect have been escalating from $23 billion in 1969 to $174 billion in 2007 (Dabelea et al., 2007). The hefty financial bills emanate from failure to address the diabetes issue comprehensively. The inadequacy by the health institutions leads to inclusion of more related disease over time soaring the curative costs even higher. Consequently, the majority of African Americans are forced to pay huge hospital bills for their diabetic relatives. In addition, the prevalence of the disease is gradually eating into the working population and affecting the economic output of the United States.
What are the differences between the long-term and the short-term implications of not addressing diabetes within the African American community?Diabetes type 2 being the most prevalent form of diabetes in the United States is strongly associated with long-term morbidity and increased mortality rate in the African American community (Mayer-Davis et al., 2009). On the short term, the patient will most likely have to work maintaining normal glucose levels as the blood sugar maybe be too low or too high in diferrent patients. Both the long and short term effects of diabetes result in ailments, on the long term however, if the disease is not addressed effectively it will more often lead to the death of a patient.
How does your selected financial analysis strategy relate to the quality of program outcomes?
The of cost-utility analysis strategy is an important factor when it comes to dealing with the disease effectively. The financial analysis should be able to reveal the best intervention and develop and system that best manages the disease by carrying out screening, follow-ups, diagnostic testing and effectively manage the detected diabetic cases.
References
Dabelea, D., Bell, R. a, D’Agostino, R. B., Imperatore, G., Johansen, J. M., Linder, B., Waitzfelder, B. (2007). Incidence of diabetes in youth in the United States. Jama, 297(24), 2716–24. http://doi.org/10.1001/jama.297.24.2716
Mayer-Davis, E. J., Beyer, J., Bell, R. A., Dabelea, D., D’Agostino, R., Imperatore, G., Rodriguez, B. (2009). Diabetes in African American youth: prevalence, incidence, and clinical characteristics: the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study. Diabetes Care, 32 Suppl 2, S112–22. http://doi.org/10.2337/dc09-S203
Zhang, P., Engelgau, M. M. M. M., Norris, S. L. S. L., Gregg, E. W., & Narayan, K. M. M. V. (2004). Application of economic analysis to diabetes and diabetes care. Annals of Internal Medicine, 140(11), 972–977.
