Economic impact of automated primary screening for cervical cancer.
OBJECTIVE
To construct a markovian model to project the marginal cost of the AutoPap System as compared to manual cervical cytologic screening.


METHODS
Data from a clinical trial and published literature were entered into a seven-state markovian decision-analytic model to estimate the marginal cost per year of life saved that could be attributed to changes in primary screening technology.


RESULTS
Annual screening with AutoPap produced a meaningful increase in life expectancy of 32.1 days relative to manual screening at a marginal savings of $628 per person (or a marginal savings of $7,144 per life-year saved). Less frequent screening yielded lower positive savings.


CONCLUSIONS
Automated screening for cervical cancer has the potential to significantly improve health care outcomes and reduce cost.
Smith
B L
BL
Research Solutions, Redlands, CA 92373-5802, USA.
Lee
M
M
Leader
S
S
Wertlake
P
P
D000293:Adolescent; D001322:Autoanalysis / Q000191:economics*; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D015233:Models, Statistical; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D015996:Survival Rate; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality; D014626:Vaginal Smears