The Economics of Thrombolysis

Abstract

See related article, pages 1952–1955. Stroke leads to significant long-term disability with important ongoing human and economic costs. Although the clinical and economic benefits of thrombolysis have been demonstrated in previous analyses,1 efficacious large volume stroke care requires systematic organization and commitment on the part of healthcare payers. Canada benefits from a universal single-payer system which faces increasing cost pressures attributable to an ageing population and increasing costs of healthcare technology. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) estimates that healthcare spending could double as a proportion of GDP in this country by 2050.2 The Canadian Institutes of Health Information note that Canadian jurisdictions spent 38.7% of all expenditures on health care in 2005 to 2006.3 Development and maintenance of stroke care systems will require well executed economic analyses to influence policy makers. In this regard, stroke is an ideal condition to treat from an economic perspective because its incidence is strongly age-linked …