Future Cost Savings Research Articles

Public Acceptance Regarding Photovoltaic Solar in Myanmar Using the Theory of Planned Behavior

This study investigates public acceptance of photovoltaic (PV) solar energy in Myanmar using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), focusing on various demographic groups in 2023. The 337 respondents across different regions provided a comprehensive overview of public attitudes. The survey examined subjective norms, attitudes, perceived behavioral control, willingness to pay, and intention to adopt (PV) solar technology. Results indicated a high level of awareness, with 98% familiar with (PV) solar and 95% knowledgeable about its panels. However, adoption rates were low at 20%. Subjective norms positively influenced attitudes, as 81% observed their social circles using (PV) solar and 80% found it convenient. Environmental concerns were minimal, with 75% not worried about (PV) Solar’s impact and 85% recognizing its carbon reduction benefits. The initial cost was a significant barrier, with 80% finding it too expensive, despite 96% believing in future cost savings. Perceptions of self-efficacy showed strong support for (PV) solar as a solution for electricity demand (90%) and interest in rooftop solar panels (87%). From an aesthetic perspective, only 14% described solar panels as unattractive. The study recommends financial incentives, education campaigns, and improved (PV) solar access, with government and stakeholder support to boost acceptance and adoption in Myanmar.

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Pharmacist-Led Diabetes Management Across Primary Care Clinics.

Purpose: Ambulatory care pharmacists (ACPs) on healthcare teams improve patient outcomes and can manage multiple chronic disease states. ACPs have demonstrated clinical benefit but need to prove financial sustainability. The primary objective of this study was to determine the cost-effectiveness of utilizing ACPs for diabetes mellitus (DM) management. Methods: This was a quasi-experimental, retrospective, single health system, multi-clinic cohort study of 406 patients living with DM, ≥ 18 years of age, with a HbA1c of ≥ 8%, receiving primary care services within an academic health system between May 2015 to March 2018. In the ACP group, the ACP was part of the care team for DM management while in the PCP group, patients were managed only by a PCP with or without an endocrinologist (usual care). The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was calculated to determine the clinic-associated cost of an ACP-led DM management clinic. Results: Based on the ICER calculation, clinic-associated cost for ACP-led DM management was $126 per patient per year for each additional HbA1c percent lowered. Additional ICER calculations demonstrated the clinic-associated cost to move one patient with HbA1c ≥9% to HbA1c < 9% was $612. Change in HbA1c over 12 months was -2.5% in the ACP group and in the PCP group +1.08% (p<0.001). Based on quality metrics at 12-months, the ACP group met the goal of 75% of patients having a HbA1c < 9% and being prescribed a statin vs. the PCP group only met the metric for statin use. Based on facility fee billing, the ACPs cover approximately 70% of their annual salary and benefits from face-to-face visits. Conclusions: ACPs led to significantly improved clinical outcomes with marginal up-front costs that could lead potential future cost savings through reductions in DM related complications or improving incentivized returns by achieving goal quality metric levels.

Cost consequences of task-shifting intravitreal injections from physicians to nurses in a tertiary hospital in Norway

BackgroundAnti-vascular endothelial growth factor is a medicine administered intravitreally by an injection to maintain visual acuity in patients with a variety of retinal diseases. The demand for this treatment has grown considerably in the westernized world the last two decades and will continue to increase due to an aging population. Because of the high volume, injections seize enormous resources and represent high costs for both hospitals and society. Task-shifting of injections from physicians to nurses may be a means to reduce such costs, however the magnitude of possible savings has been poorly investigated. To this end we investigated changes in the hospital costs per injection, six-year cost projections of physician- versus nurse-administered injections for a Norwegian tertiary hospital and we compared the societal costs per patient per year.MethodsPatients (n = 318) were randomized to either physician- or nurse administered injections, and data were prospectively collected. Hospital costs per injection were calculated as the sum of training costs, personnel time and running expenses. The number of injections for the years 2014 – 21 from a Norwegian tertiary hospital was combined with age group specific injection prevalence and population projections to calculate cost projections for 2022 – 27. Societal costs per patient were calculated as the sum of hospital costs, transport costs for patients, caregivers’ use of time, costs of ophthalmology consultations and community-based homecare.ResultsThe hospital costs per injection were 5.5 € higher for physicians compared to nurses (281.6 € versus 276.1 €). Cost projections estimated an annual hospital saving of task-shifting of 48 921 € for 2022 – 27. Societal costs per patient did not differ significantly between the two groups (mean 4988 € vs 5418 €, p = 0.398).ConclusionTask-shifting of injections from physicians to nurses can reduce hospital costs and increase the flexibility of physician resources. The annual savings are modest, but increased demand for injections might increase future cost savings. To achieve future savings for society, organizing ophthalmology consultations and injections on the same day to reduce the number of visits might be a solution.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT02359149 (09/02/2015).

DETECTING SUPPLIER PAYMENT ERRORS AND FRAUD USING A DATA WAREHOUSE AUDIT APPROACH

ABSTRACT This study provides management, accountants, and auditors with immediately applicable knowledge on supplier payment error discovery using a data warehouse. Despite the universality of supplier payment processing across government and non-government sectors, the associated error risks have received little attention in the academic literature and only limited attention in the practitioner literature. This paper seeks to articulate the data mining methods needed to perform such audits. A case study approach was used to analyze 15 client auditees in five countries using a variety of accounts payable systems. Action research methodology brought rigor to the development of incremental knowledge of error hypotheses and detection techniques. In this way, the prior knowledge gained from each case enriched the subsequent iterations. Even among clients whose management presumed human and system controls were robust, findings showed an average 0.19 percent error rate in payments to suppliers. These were mostly recoverable as cash refunds or credit notes. The audit cost-to-benefit ratio averaged 1:33, suggesting clients received financial returns 33 times higher than the cost of the audit, on average. Concurrently, internal controls were also hardened in accounts payable, tax compliance, and fraud prevention to secure additional future cost savings. Besides material cash recoveries and the occasional discovery of fraud, incremental lessons were also learned in data warehouse construction, data cleansing, privacy assurance, and tax compliance.

The cost and cost-effectiveness of novel tuberculosis vaccines in low- and middle-income countries: A modeling study.

Tuberculosis (TB) is preventable and curable but eliminating it has proven challenging. Safe and effective TB vaccines that can rapidly reduce disease burden are essential for achieving TB elimination. We assessed future costs, cost-savings, and cost-effectiveness of introducing novel TB vaccines in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) for a range of product characteristics and delivery strategies. We developed a system of epidemiological and economic models, calibrated to demographic, epidemiological, and health service data in 105 LMICs. For each country, we assessed the likely future course of TB-related outcomes under several vaccine introduction scenarios, compared to a "no-new-vaccine" counterfactual. Vaccine scenarios considered 2 vaccine product profiles (1 targeted at infants, 1 at adolescents/adults), both assumed to prevent progression to active TB. Key economic inputs were derived from the Global Health Cost Consortium, World Health Organization (WHO) patient cost surveys, and the published literature. We estimated the incremental impact of vaccine introduction for a range of health and economic outcomes. In the base-case, we assumed a vaccine price of $4.60 and used a 1× per-capita gross domestic product (GDP) cost-effectiveness threshold (both varied in sensitivity analyses). Vaccine introduction was estimated to require substantial near-term resources, offset by future cost-savings from averted TB burden. From a health system perspective, adolescent/adult vaccination was cost-effective in 64 of 105 LMICs. From a societal perspective (including productivity gains and averted patient costs), adolescent/adult vaccination was projected to be cost-effective in 73 of 105 LMICs and cost-saving in 58 of 105 LMICs, including 96% of countries with higher TB burden. When considering the monetized value of health gains, we estimated that introduction of an adolescent/adult vaccine could produce $283 to 474 billion in economic benefits by 2050. Limited data availability required assumptions and extrapolations that may omit important country-level heterogeneity in epidemiology and costs. TB vaccination would be highly impactful and cost-effective in most LMICs. Further efforts are needed for future development, adoption, and implementation of novel TB vaccines.

Novel process design and techno-economic simulation of methanol synthesis from blast furnace gas in an integrated steelworks CCUS system

A novel process design and techno-economic performance assessment for methanol synthesis from Blast Furnace Gas (BFG) is presented. Methanol synthesis using BFG as a feedstock, based on direct CO2 hydrogenation at commercial scale was simulated using Aspen Plus software to evaluate its technical performance and economic viability. The applied process steps involve first conditioning BFG using adsorption based desulfurisation, water-gas shift, dehydration, then separation of components into N2, CO2 and H2 rich streams using pressure swing adsorption. The H2 stream and a fraction of the CO2 stream are fed to a methanol synthesis system, while the remaining CO2 may be considered for geological storage in a Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) case, or not in a Carbon Capture Utilization (CCU) case. Techno-economic analysis confirms methanol production from BFG is economically attractive under certain conditions, with Levelized Cost of Methanol production (LCOMeOH) calculated to be 344.61 £/tonne-methanol, and costs of CO2 avoided of − 20.08 £/tonne-CO2 for the CCU process and 9.01 £/tonne-CO2 for the CCUS process when using a set of baseline engineering assumptions. Sensitivity analysis of the process simulation explores opportunities for optimising the methanol synthesis system in terms of the impact of reactor size and/or recycle ratio on LCOMeOH. Economic viability of the CCU(S) processes is also found to be highly dependent on the cost of the feedstock BFG. Future cost savings as compared to business-as-usual steel production by 2030 in consideration of expected increases in the carbon price are estimated to be 10.59 £/tonne-steel for CCU and 24.61 £/tonne-steel for CCUS.

Policy and Kidney Community Engagement to Advance toward Greener Kidney Care.

Policy and Kidney Community Engagement to Advance toward Greener Kidney Care.

Sanctions or sea ice: Costs of closing the Northern Sea Route

Either sea ice or recent sanctions on Russia could close or shorten the use of the Northern Sea Route (NSR). Using 16 climate realizations and shipping routes to estimate the value of an NSR transit, we find that closure costs could be as high as $3.3 billion, with possible overall losses as high as $10 billion. Ultimately, sanctions are as expensive as sea ice. The estimates used to produce these findings may be used by other researchers to assess possible future cost savings as climate change continues to affect global transportation.

Shortcomings of Administrative Data to Derive Preventive Strategies for Inhospital Drug-Induced Acute Kidney Failure-Insights from Patient Record Analysis.

Structured analyses of hospital administrative data may detect potentially preventable adverse drug events (ADE) and therefore are considered promising sources to prevent future harm and estimate cost savings. Whether results of these analyses indeed correspond to ADE that may be preventable in clinical routines needs to be verified. We exemplarily screened all adult inpatients admitted to a German University Hospital (n = 54,032) for International Classification of Diseases-10th revision (ICD-10) diagnoses coding for drug-induced kidney injury (AKI). In a retrospective chart review, we checked the coded adverse events (AE) for inhospital occurrence, causality to drug exposure, and preventability in all identified cases and calculated positive predictive values (ppv). We identified 69 inpatient cases of whom 41 cases (59.4%) experienced the AE in the hospital (ppv-range 0.43–0.80). Causality assessment revealed a rather likely causal relationship between AE and drug exposure in 11 cases (15.9, 11/69, ppv-range 0.17–0.22) whereby preventability measures could be postulated for seven cases (10.1%, 7/69). Focusing on drug-induced AKI, this study exemplarily underlines that ICD-10-code-based ADE prevention efforts are quite limited due to the small identification rate and its high proportion of primarily outpatient events. Furthermore, causality assessment revealed that cases are often too complex to benefit from generic prevention strategies. Thus, ICD-10-code-based calculations might overestimate patient harm and economic losses.

The promise and the future of research data sharing

The promise and the future of research data sharing

57. Financial Impact of a Regional Antimicrobial Stewardship Cost Saving Initiative in a Large Integrated Healthcare System

Abstract Background A regional antibiotic stewardship program (ASP) within a large integrated healthcare system covering two, non-academic, tertiary care medical centers and an additional six community hospitals implemented multiple interventions to optimize antimicrobial therapy and reduce unnecessary hospital costs, such as transition to extended-infusion (EI) piperacillin/tazobactam (TZP), formulary restriction of antimicrobials, and antimicrobial stewardship clinical review. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the cost savings associated with these regional ASP initiatives. Methods This was a multicenter, retrospective, observational review of regional stewardship interventions across eight inpatient medical centers in Oregon. Data was collected from January 2019 to December of 2020. Cost savings associated with reduced TZP administrations was based on the duration of therapy for each encounter in adults who received TZP for &amp;gt;24 hours in 2020. The regional antimicrobial restriction policy was implemented in February 2020. Cost savings attributed to antimicrobial formulary restrictions and reduction in overall days of therapy/1000 patient days (DOT) were based on EPIC costs. Results The reduction in number of administrations with implementation of EI TZP resulted in &amp;226,420 saved in 2020. &amp;182,837 was saved due to decreased usage of restricted antimicrobial agents. An additional &amp;433,341 was saved for overall antimicrobial costs due to 19,775 days reduction in overall DOT/1000 patient days. Conclusion A community-based regional ASP has resulted in substantial financial impact and identified areas for future cost savings within the region. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures

Estimating the impact of energy efficiency on housing prices in Germany: Does regional disparity matter?

The German government is aiming for a climate-neutral building stock before 2050 to meet the defined goals of the Climate Action Plan 2050. Increasing the building stock's energy efficiency is therefore a high priority, and investments by private homeowners will greatly influence this, as around 46.5% of German homes are owner-occupied. To identify the possible monetary benefits of investments in energy retrofits, we investigate whether energy efficiency is reflected in the property values of German single-family homes. Therefore, we examine potential heterogeneous effects across regions. With 422,242 individual observations on a 1 km2-grid level from 2014 to 2018, this study adds to the extant literature by 1) examining the energy efficiency effect on housing values for the entire country and specifically investigating regional disparities in this context, and 2) estimating an energy efficiency value-to-cost ratio to compare housing values' increase with initial investment costs and future energy cost savings. Applying hedonic analysis, we find a positive relationship between energy efficiency and asking prices. If energy efficiency increases by 100 kWh/m2a, prices increase by 6.9% on average. We also find evidence for regional disparities. The effects are significantly weaker in large cities than in other urban areas, whereas the impact in rural regions is much stronger. According to this, housing shortage and higher purchasing power per capita were identified as drivers for low energy efficiency premiums. Finally, there is evidence that about 98% of future energy cost savings are already reflected in a higher housing value under myopic expectations regarding future energy prices.

A Housing First evaluation project for homeless Veterans in Canada: Quantitative findings

LAY SUMMARY This study sought to evaluate a Housing First program for Veterans experiencing homelessness. Housing First is an approach made up of many different aspects of care including peer support and greater access to care resources within the home. These aspects of care are offered in order to address underlying issues and maintain housing stability. The program was implemented across four cities in Canada including London, Toronto, Calgary, and Victoria. To assess the program, interviews with Veterans were conducted at time of enrollment, 3, 9, and 15 months. The Veterans in this study demonstrated a significant reduction in homelessness. As well, a significant reduction in emergency room visits was reported. Other health care interactions and quality-of-life scores remained stable. These findings could, therefore, lead to potential future cost savings in the health care sector. This study demonstrates why this approach to housing for Veterans can be a highly effective and useful way to ensure housing stability.

Workforce Planning Models for Oral Health Care: A Scoping Review.

Background:For health care services to address the health care needs of populations and respond to changes in needs over time, workforces must be planned. This requires quantitative models to estimate future workforce requirements that take account of population size, oral health needs, evidence-based approaches to addressing needs, and methods of service provision that maximize productivity. The aim of this scoping review was to assess whether and how these 4 elements contribute to existing models of oral health workforce planning.Methods:A scoping review was conducted. MEDLINE, Embase, HMIC, and EconLit were searched, all via OVID. Additionally, gray literature databases were searched and key bodies and policy makers contacted. Workforce planning models were included if they projected workforce numbers and were specific to oral health. No limits were placed on country. A single reviewer completed initial screening of abstracts; 2 independent reviewers completed secondary screening and data extraction. A narrative synthesis was conducted.Results:A total of 4,009 records were screened, resulting in 42 included articles detailing 47 models. The workforce planning models varied significantly in their use of data on oral health needs, evidence-based services, and provider productivity, with most models relying on observed levels of service utilization and demand.Conclusions:This review has identified quantitative workforce planning models that aim to estimate future workforce requirements. Approaches to planning the oral health workforce are not always based on deriving workforce requirements from population oral health needs. In many cases, requirements are not linked to population needs, while in models where needs are included, they are constrained by the existence and availability of the required data. It is critical that information systems be developed to effectively capture data necessary to plan future oral health care workforces in ways that relate directly to the needs of the populations being served.Knowledge Transfer Statement:Policy makers can use the results of this study when making decisions about the planning of oral health care workforces and about the data to routinely collect within health services. Collection of suitable data will allow for the continual improvement of workforce planning, leading to a responsive health service and likely future cost savings.

Economic evaluation of elective cesarean versus vaginal delivery on cost of future pelvic floor disorders in the United States.

To analyze the cost impact of cesarean versus vaginal delivery in the United States on the development of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and pelvic organ prolapse (POP). We compared average cost of delivery method to the lifetime risk and cost of pelvic floor disorders (PFDs) in women < 65 years. Costs of maternal care, obtained from the MarketScan® database, included those incurred at delivery and 3 months post-partum. Future costs of PFDs included those incurred after delivery up to 65 years. Previously reported data on the prevalence of POP and SUI following cesarean and vaginal delivery was used to calculate attributable risk. An incremental cost of illness model was used to estimate costs for SUI. Direct surgical and ambulatory care costs were used to determine cost of POP. Average estimated cost was $7089 for vaginal delivery and $9905 for cesareandelivery. The absolute risks for SUI and POP were estimated as 7% and 5%, respectively, following cesarean delivery, and 13% and 14%, respectively, following vaginal delivery. For SUI, average direct cost was $5642, indirect cost was $4208, and personal cost was $750. Average direct cost of POP surgery was $4658, and nonsurgical cost was $2220. The potential savings for reduced prevalence of SUI and POP in women who underwent cesarean delivery is estimated at $1255, but they incur an additional $2816 maternal care cost over vaginal delivery. Although elective cesarean is associated with reduced prevalence of PFDs, the increased initial cost of cesarean delivery does not offset future cost savings.

Can we hope for a collective shift in electric vehicle adoption? Testing salience and norm-based interventions in South Tyrol, Italy

Electric-drive vehicles (EVs) are a promising technology for containing environmental problems of the transport sector. However, to be effective on the environment, these need to be purchased by consumers in large quantities. Not only material barriers, but also cognitive biases prevent their diffusion. Particularly, EVs fail to capture a significant passenger car market share, even in regions that can overcome most material barriers. We report the findings from an online survey experiment administered to respondents of a region identified as a potential EV lead market, but which still fails to reach a significant EV market share. We test the effect of two behaviorally informed strategies on EV preferences: a norm-based and a salience intervention. To better identify treatment effect, we control for pro-environment self-identity, heterogeneity in key economic preferences, and size. Results show that making future cost savings salient significantly increases the likelihood of choosing EVs. However, the effect is limited to individuals displaying preferences for big vehicles and for valuing future benefits, and high values in the pro-environment self-identity measure. In addition, results show that EV choices are unaffected by the descriptive norm embedded in the norm-based intervention.

Effect of expectation on short- and long-term treatment response to Acupuncture in migraine patients

IntroductionThere are relatively few studies addressing the relationship between the patient’s expectation and the short and long-term response to treatment with acupuncture. The aim of this study was to assess the association between pre- and post-treatment expectation of acupuncture and post-treatment and post-follow-up patient outcomes. MethodsThis was an open-label, randomized controlled clinical trial conducted at the Czech-Chinese Centre for Traditional Chinese Medicine at the University Hospital Hradec Kralove between October 2015 and April 2017. Non-specific factors were examined in the intervention arm using regression analysis. ResultsPost-treatment positive expectation concerning the success of the treatment, as well as the affective status of the patient, is one of the most significant nonspecific factors contributing to an increased post-treatment effectiveness of acupuncture; however, this positive expectation decreased with time. On the other hand, the post-follow-up effect of acupuncture was significantly improved by the patients’ positive perception of the TCM practitioner. ConclusionsCorrect calibration of a patient’s expectation, good mental status, and patients' perceptions of an acupuncturist's skills reduced the number of migraine days in patients treated with acupuncture. Understanding non-specific treatment effects can potentially help clinicians to integrate them in to practice and thus optimise treatment effectiveness. Future research is needed to clarify whether interventions targeting modifiable non-specific factors prior to and during acupuncture treatment can result in better patient outcomes and future cost-savings.

So similar and yet so different

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to compare a firm’s net cost and post-apprenticeship benefits of providing apprenticeship training in Austria and Switzerland: two countries with many similarities but some critical institutional differences. Design/methodology/approach The authors draw on detailed workplace data with information on the costs and benefits of apprenticeship training, as well as on hiring costs for skilled workers from the external labour market. The authors use nearest-neighbour matching models to compare Austrian firms with similar Swiss firms based on observable characteristics. Findings On average, a Swiss firm generates an annual net benefit of €3,400 from training an apprentice, whereas a firm in Austria incurs net costs of €4,200. The impetus for this difference is largely a higher relative apprentice pay in Austria. However, compared with Swiss firms, Austrian firms generate a higher post-training return by retaining a higher share of apprentices and savings on future hiring costs. Practical implications The authors demonstrate that apprenticeship systems can exist under different institutional environments. For countries currently in the process of establishing or expanding apprenticeship systems, the comparative analysis clearly shows that policymakers should consider more than just one country’s particular apprenticeship model. Originality/value The authors provide a first comparative analysis between two apprenticeship countries that empirically assesses a firm’s costs and benefits of training during an apprenticeship programme and also provides a monetary value of a particular type of post-training benefits that firms can generate by retaining former apprentices as skilled workers (i.e. savings in future hiring costs for skilled workers).

Early Screening Strategies for Diabetes Mellitus by Leveraging Dental Visits Using Optimal Screening Tools Available Onsite.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) continues to be a major health concern in the Western hemisphere, and the management of type 2 DM (T2DM) is an ongoing challenge for the American healthcare system despite major advances in DM research. T2DM imparts a massive economic burden, and a major challenge in managing T2DM continues to be timely screening. Adults are more likely to visit a dentist than a primary care physician. This study was designed to compare current screening standards recommended by the American Diabetes Association with the use of gingival-crevicular blood and its compatibility with traditional methods using a fingerstick. Patients routinely presenting to the dental clinic were offered participation in the trial and, after informed consent, checked for blood glucose levels using the fingerstick method as a control. The control values were compared to the results of the gingival-crevicular blood glucose test obtained during the dental procedure from the same patient (i.e., patients were their own controls). A total of 226 study participants were included. Of these, 127 (56.1%) participants were women, whereas 99 (43.9%) participants were men. The sample size was derived using the Slovin’s equation (Power = 80%) statistical test. We used the Pearson coefficient test to measure the statistical difference between the two tests. We found no significant difference in glucose readings between the fingerstick method and the gingival methods of collection (t = -1.134, P = 0.258). A small sample was also tested for glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) using the same sample collecting methods. However, due to the cost restraints involved in using HbA1c kits, a statistically significant cohort could not be collected. By incorporating this interdisciplinary approach, testing for DM during routine dental visits can be a vital resource for the early diagnosis of DM, potentially leading to significant savings in future healthcare costs.

Costs Related to Skin Cancer Prevention in Victoria and Australia

Background: The aim of this presentation is to provide an update on the economic evaluation of the Australian SunSmart program as well as outline the cost of skin cancer treatment to the Victorian public hospital system. This follows the publication of two recently released published economic evaluations that discusses the potential effects of skin cancer prevention inventions. Aim: 1. To highlight the cost effectiveness of skin cancer prevention in Australia 2. To highlight the costs of skin cancer treatment in the Victorian public hospital system 3. To provide strong evidence to inform governments of the value of skin cancer prevention to reduce the costs of treatment in future years. Methods: Program cost was compared with cost savings to determine the investment return of the program. In a separate study, a prevalence-based cost approach was undertaken in public hospitals in Victoria. Costs were estimated for inpatient admissions, using state service statistics, and outpatient services based on attendance at three hospitals in 2012-13. Cost-effectiveness for prevention was estimated from 'observed vs expected' analysis, together with program expenditure data. Results: With additional $AUD 0.16 ($USD 0.12) per capita investment into skin cancer prevention across Australia from 2011 to 2030, an upgraded SunSmart Program would prevent 45,000 melanoma and 95,000 NMSC cases. Potential savings in future healthcare costs were estimated at $200 million, while productivity gains were significant. A future upgraded SunSmart Program was predicted to be cost-saving from the funder perspective, with an investment return of $3.20 for every additional dollar the Australian governments/funding bodies invested into the program. In relation to the costs to the Victorian public hospital system, total annual costs were $48 million to $56 million. Skin cancer treatment in public hospitals ($9.20∼$10.39 per head/year) was 30-times current public funding in skin cancer prevention ($0.37 per head/year). Conclusion: The study demonstrates the strong economic credentials of the SunSmart Program, with a strong economic rationale for increased investment. Increased funding for skin cancer prevention must be kept high on the public health agenda. This would also have the dual benefit of enabling hospitals to redirect resources to nonpreventable conditions.