Pharmacoeconomy of diabetes mellitus - trends in the Czech Republic

Since 2002, we found relatively stable number of diabetes mellitus cases among clients of General Health Insurance Company of the Czech Republic. This means, after calculating incidence rate with respect to decline in total numbers of insured during the same period, a 6% increase in real incidence rate. On the doctors side, outpatient, mostly private diabetologists have about the same capacity of their offices, 2.9 physicians (WTE)/100 000 citizens over the last years. Analysis of costs and volume of services provided, clearly demonstrate, that diabetology is medical specialization of a great importance not only from the point of view of number of patients and services provided but also of its influence on the overall health care costs. Data show not only higher average expenses for treatment of patients with diabetes mellitus compared to average expenses incurred for treatments of all other diagnoses, but show also a crucial relationship of costs with presence or absence of diabetes mellitus complications. Monies spend by the medical insurance system and also and more importantly health profit to patients can thus be substantially influenced via improvements in organization of care, via higher involvement, compliance of patients to the treatment and to necessary change in their lifestyles and last but not least via increase in quality of care. Cost control can be achieved by strengthening the role of pharmacoeconomics in decisions making processes of health insurance companies, importance of which is demonstrated on the past developments on drug market in the Czech Republic. General Health Insurance Company will target these goals in coming years and in its business plans will also include expected increases of costs for organization of care and for higher renumeration of physicians as well.

Keywords: diabetes mellitus; pharmacoeconomy; consumption of medical services; medical insurance