title: Quality-of-life improvement and cost-effectiveness of interventional pulmonary procedures.
abstract: Most interventional pulmonology studies focus on the technical success of procedures without measuring validated quality-of-life (QoL) outcomes. Studies are now incorporating end points that include QoL measurements and there are examples of interventional procedures that likely improve QoL. It is vital for the interventional pulmonary literature to incorporate cost-effectiveness when introducing new technology. While not uniformly analyzed in a rigorous manner in all studies, there are examples of interventional pulmonary studies that analyze cost-effectiveness through avoidance of more expensive procedures, cost savings per day free of emergency room visit, or cost savings per day not requiring intensive care unit care.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy, and Sleep Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, USA. pastisn@musc.edu
authors.forename: Nicholas J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Pastis
authors.forename: Gerard A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Silvestri
authors.forename: Ray Wesley
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Shepherd
mesh_terms: D000402:Airway Obstruction / Q000628:therapy; D001999:Bronchoscopy / Q000191:economics* / Q000295:instrumentation; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D019160:Endosonography / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D015272:Pulmonary Medicine / Q000191:economics*; D011788:Quality of Life; D018084:Ultrasonography, Interventional / Q000191:economics*
keywords: Cost-effectiveness; Health care resources; Interventional pulmonology; Quality of life