CHP Seminar - Maura Leusder

Seminar: Determining costs, cost predictors, and resource requirements in fertility care pathways: a value-based costing tool to assess the impact of AI on patient pathways

Presenter: Maura Leusder

Date & Time: Tuesday April 4th 12pm-12:45pm

Seminar Room 515, Level 5 207 Bouverie Street, Carlton, VIC 3053 or join online

The aim of this research was to determine the total costs of fertility care cycles for all patient pathways, identify cost predictors, and to stratify resource use per treatment option.
We developed a cost calculation tool using time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC), direct observations (218), and metro mapping, which incorporates patient-level input parameters for the entire patient pathway.

Our results indicate that fertility treatments vary significantly in cost and duration when considering the patient journey from initial consultation to ongoing pregnancy. Treatment cycle costs can vary from €226 to €4,879 and do not necessarily reflect reimbursement amounts. Patient-level cost variation is greatest during lab phases of treatment, driven directly by the volume of material handled by the lab per patient, staff experience levels, and the patient's case mix. Lab staff, lab disposables, and lab equipment together make up 39% of the average IVF cycle expenses, highlighting the importance of a motivated workforce and the potential benefits of technological investments, including artificial intelligence (AI) embryo selection.

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