Register-based studies of healthcare costs

Scand J Public Health. 2011 Jul;39(7 Suppl):206-9. doi: 10.1177/1403494811404277.

Abstract

Introduction: The aim of this paper is to provide an overview and a few examples of how national registers are used in analyses of healthcare costs in Denmark.

Research topics: The paper focuses on health economic analyses based on register data. For the sake of simplicity, the studies are divided into three main categories: economic evaluations of healthcare interventions, cost-of-illness analyses, and other analyses such as assessments of healthcare productivity.

Conclusion: We examined a number of studies using register-based data on healthcare costs. Use of register-based data renders a comprehensive data material, often in the form of time series, which is very useful in health economic analyses. The disadvantage of register-based data is the use of tariffs, charges, or market prices as proxies for costs in the computation of healthcare costs.

MeSH terms

  • Cost of Illness*
  • Denmark
  • Health Care Costs*
  • Health Services Research
  • Humans
  • Registries* / standards