ArticleScandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine2024
A scenario based approach to optimizing cost-effectiveness of physician-staffed Helicopter Emergency Medical Services compared to ground-based Emergency Medical Services in Finland.
Article in Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Mapping the internationally reported evidence on physician-staffed helicopter transport in Japan: a scoping review.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Impact of Helicopter Emergency Medical Services on endovascular thrombectomy delays, clinical outcomes, and societal costs in large vessel occlusion stroke: a retrospective registry based counterfactual simulation study.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2026Article
- EDEN - Enhanced Dispatch for Efficient Neurointervention: mathematical model from national data.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2026Article
- Accessibility to medical institutions in Aichi Prefecture: A geographic information systems-based analysis.PloS one · 2026Article
- Author Response: "A Transfer Strategy Utilizing a Helicopter and a Ground Ambulance Together Does Not Prolong Door-In-Door-Out Times in Thrombectomy Patients: A Retrospective Analysis".European journal of neurology · 2025Article
- Transcranial Ultrasound in the Helicopter Emergency Medical Services-A Feasibility Study.Journal of neuroimaging : official journal of the American Society of NeuroimagingArticle
- Geospatial optimization of Air-Mobile Stroke Unit deployment in Norway: expanding the frontiers of neurocritical care.Frontiers in neurologyArticle
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesSince Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) is an expensive resource in terms of unit price compared to ground-based Emergency Medical Service (EMS), it is important to further investigate which methods would allow for the optimization of these services. The aim of this study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of physician-staffed HEMS compared to ground-based EMS in developed scenarios with improvements in triage, aviation performance, and the inclusion of ischemic stroke patients.
methodsIncremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was assessed by comparing health outcomes and costs of HEMS versus ground-based EMS across six different scenarios. Estimated 30-day mortality and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) were used to measure health benefits. Quality-of-Life (QoL) was assessed with EuroQoL instrument, and a one-way sensitivity analysis was carried out across different patient groups. Survival estimates were evaluated from the national FinnHEMS database, with cost analysis based on the most recent financial reports.
resultsThe best outcome was achieved in Scenario 3.1 which included a reduction in over-alerts, aviation performance enhancement, and assessment of ischemic stroke patients. This scenario yielded 1077.07-1436.09 additional QALYs with an ICER of 33,703-44,937 €/QALY. This represented a 27.72% increase in the additional QALYs and a 21.05% reduction in the ICER compared to the current practice.
conclusionsThe cost-effectiveness of HEMS can be highly improved by adding stroke patients into the dispatch criteria, as the overall costs are fixed, and the cost-effectiveness is determined based on the utilization rate of capacity.
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