An Essay on the Economic Outcome of Medical Simulation Education : How to Think and Evaluate

概要

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While many previous works regarding the outcome of medical simulation asserted that high-fidelity, low injury simulation education induces desirable consequence in terms of improving clinical skills and resource management, no fewer works reported, on the other hand, that there are no significant differences between the the use of high cost simulators and low cost ones. This implies that the cost-effectiveness of simulation education should be understood not as a problem of simple comparison of technique, but as an economic problem of Return on Investment (ROI). This essay addresses how to identify and evaluate the economic outcome of simulation education/training, from the ROI perspective, in order to confirm the utility and contribution of simulation technology on the progress of medical treatment and health policy stability. A simple model of ROI, as well as a brief explanation of the concept of benefit generation will be introduced after a confirmation of the importance of outcome evaluation in simulation education. Then, as an example, a scenario-based evaluation of the benefits of employing medical simulation for healthcare providers' networks was conducted. As a result, we conclude that, in order to improve the quality and safety of medical care, the use of simulation education as a quasi-public good is the clearest and easiest way of achieving this goal.
熊本大学の論文
2012-02-00