Multimorbidity and its cost in the Belgium health system.

MultiMorbidity (MM), the concurrence of two or more chronic conditions, is a growing phenomenon in all countries, and more prevalent among vulnerable groups in society. Yet, research to understand and address the phenomenon has only recently taken off. In the Belgium context, the burden of multimorbidity, measured by disability, is highest for cardiovascular diseases with or without diabetes; chronic respiratory diseases and depression; neurological diseases and cancers. The prevalence of MM has risen from 8,9% in 1997 to 15,2% in 2018. How patients use health care for their different conditions is not well known, while this has implications for quality of care and cost. Best practices in health care organizations to manage multimorbidity are being documented, but implementation research on feasibility, cost and effectiveness is still patchy. The PhD aims to improve understanding the burden, management and cost of multimorbidity in the Belgium health system, from the patient and health system perspective. Two Research Questions will be examined: 1) What are patterns of health care utilisation and health care cost for people with multiple chronic conditions? 2) Which innovations to manage multimorbidity are implemented, and what is the feasibility acceptability and effectiveness and cost of implementation? Year 1 and 2 will be used to develop the research protocol, explore existing data and to do the analysis of RQ1. Year 2 and 3 will be used for RQ. At least drie peer reviewed articles will be written with the following topics: 1) health care utilization and cost for Belgium patients with multiple chronic conditions; 2) implementation analysis of pilots for integrated care for multimorbidity; and 3) cost-effectiveness of multimorbidity pilots in the Belgium health system.

Keywords:DRUG EXPENDITURES, ELDERLY PEOPLE

Disciplines:Health care financing, Health economy, Epidemiology