Sponsored by ABIMED, LCA Consultores developed a study that measured the gains in social welfare resulting from technological increment. According to the study, the Medical Technology Index has a positive impact on the cost of healthcare. A 1% increase in the index positively impacts per capita health spending by 0.494%. Between 2009 and 2019, the increase in medical technology caused health spending to rise by R$97.68 billion (ANS + SUS). In terms of well-being, it was found that a 1% increase in the technology index increased the proportion of the population over 65 by 0.00868% and reduced infant mortality by 0.0253%.

The presentation took place in May, during Hospitalar 2023, in São Paulo (SP), bringing together the debaters: Bruno Sobral, executive secretary of the National Health Confederation; Mirocles Campos Véras Neto, president of the Confederation of Santas Casas de Misericórdia, Hospitals and Philanthropic Entities (CMB); Renato Freire Casarotti, president of ABRANGE; and Eliezer Silva, executive director of the Health System at Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein. Among the researchers were Alessandro Campolina, coordinator of the ATS laboratory at FMUSP; Thiago Caliari, associate professor at ITA; and Verônica Lazarini, project manager at LCA.

The analysis presented three cases, built on a solid methodological approach in the areas of cardiology, diagnostic imaging and orthopedics, which reveal the importance of economic evaluation methods in healthcare in choosing the most efficient alternatives among possible technological innovations.

The debaters analyzed the sector and the investment made. For Renato Casarotti, the most important thing is for the sector to realize the infallibility paradox in which it is inserted, in which all the links in the chain have high efficiency, but this does not translate into the real patient environment. This view was reinforced by the reality of the public health system in the equation. According to Eliezer Silva, the analyses performed by Hospital Albert Einstein follow this same line. “We realize that patients seen in the private sector have a greater chance of survival than those we see through partnerships in the public system,” he said.

Mirocles Veras pointed out that the budgetary situation of the Santas Casas in the country leads to situations where there is a lack of services. Small hospitals, with fewer than 50 beds, don’t usually have the financial viability to implement an infrastructure capable of receiving the latest technologies.

“The main objective of the study was to shed light on the two spheres of medical technology – cost and social welfare – in order to help lead discussions about their importance in the country’s socio-economic conditions and in decision-making about the use of such technologies by health systems,” explained Fernando Silveira Filho, executive president of ABIMED.