How Cost Effective Is Electroconvulsive Therapy?

Electroconvulsive therapy used for treating certain mood disorders increases the treatment cost need to be delivered in an outpatient setting to reduce the cost.

Electroconvulsive therapy can be effective in lowering long-term risks of suicide and death among patients with certain mood disorders but it can increase the health care costs in longer hospital stays, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) involves passing small electric currents through the brain to trigger brief seizures while a patient is under anaesthesia. It is rarely used due to high costs, low insurance coverage, lack of medical training and long-term side effects.

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‘Electroconvulsive therapy needs to be delivered in an outpatient setting to reduce the cost and to increase utilization among patients.’

The new study published in Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services examines the privately insured adults hospitalized for major depression or bipolar disorder.

The study discovered that patients receiving ECT are hospitalized for long time and increased the total health care costs compared to patients receiving standard care.

"Although ECT is an effective therapy for treatment-resistant depression, its high cost is a deterrent," said author Edeanya Agbese, research project manager in the Department of Public Health Sciences and the Center for Applied Studies in Health Economics.

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They examined several factors including patient characteristics, length of hospitalization and treatments received using a private insurance database.

The findings of the study revealed that depending on the number of treatments, patients receiving ECT were hospitalized four to 29 days longer and incurred an additional $5,700 to $52,700 more than patients who did not receive this treatment. They also continued to have higher health care costs even after hospitalization.

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Researchers believe that if ECT treatments are offered in outpatient settings, it can be beneficial and more cost-effective for patients depending on the illness severity.

As this study focused on privately insured individuals, it did not explore the financial implications and out-of-pocket expenses for ECT patients without health care insurance or those on Medicare and Medicaid.

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It is normal to go through mood changes such as joy, sadness or anger every day, but when these mood swings are extreme enough to disrupt daily life, it may indicate an underlying medical condition. Find out why people have mood swings and how to treat them.

Source-Medindia