Biosistemak shares its research in the blog of the Health Economics Association, after winning the Best Oral Communication Award

Ania Gorostiza, Biostatistician of the institute, is in charge of the writing, after being awarded for her presentation at the congress organized by AES last June, in Tenerife.

Biosistemak’s Biostatistician, Ania Gorostiza, has been invited to share research in the prestigious AES blog, Economía y Salud, after winning the Best Oral Communication Award at the XLIII Jornadas de Economía de la Salud, held in San Cristóbal de La Laguna (Tenerife) in June, where she presented the results of the study on how to improve health care for breast cancer patients using innovative tools.

Gorostiza’s article, written together with Maialen Otamendi, a mathematician at the Biogipuzkoa Research Institute, is entitled “Basing healthcare on value: methodological tools for classifying patients into archetypes”. In it, the authors present a new methodology aimed at improving the treatment of breast cancer patients. Based on the processing of data from more than 1,860 patients, seven different types of breast cancer patients have been identified. Based on the grouping of patients according to their characteristics, they have developed a tool that automatically classifies newly diagnosed patients based on the assessment of their medical professional, which allows them to personalize their treatment.

What does this methodology consist of?

This study is part of the European VOICEproject, which seeks to apply the Value Based Healthcare (VBHC) model to cancer treatments. This model focuses on providing the best possible treatment at the lowest cost, taking into account what matters most to patients: their health and their experience during the process. The project is based on three key principles:

  1. Measure health outcomes from the patient’s perspective.
  2. Organize treatment around the individual’s medical conditions.
  3. Manage costs per patient to make care more efficient.

Results and future research

The results obtained have been very positive and have encouraged the institute’s team to continue advancing in this line of research. In fact, work is underway to finalize a scientific article that will expand on the findings of this study and will be published at the end of this year.

Although the work carried out by the Biosistemak team focuses on breast cancer, the authors emphasize that this methodology could be applied to other diseases, improving the personalization and efficiency of the treatments offered to patients. In this way, Biosistemak continues its commitment to health research and the improvement of health care based on the results that really matter to patients.

You can read the full article here.