Abstract
At present, patients’ accessibility to positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/
CT) service in Thailand is still not feasible due to high costs of diagnosis and limited disbursement of
government health insurance schemes. The objective of this study was to study the costs and break-even
point for the use of PET/CT devices in Thailand if additional indications were covered in health coverage
schemes. Data collection of PET/CT service was performed at 2 government hospitals. Diagnosis costs,
linear prediction, and budgetary impact were then analyzed.
The study showed that the unit cost of PET/CT would significantly decrease if the number of patients
increased. The cost was approximately 367,045 baht per case if performed only 1 case a week and
continuously decreased till 40 cases per week giving the unit cost only 22,725 baht. The disbursed rate
of 40,000 baht per case would cause no loss to the hospital if performed 14 cases per week. The
budgetary impact assessment expected an annual increase of 4.65% PET/CT uses with the disbursement
of 40,000 baht per case. The annual conservative burden would amount to 24-26 million baht for new
cases of patients with 9 types of cancer, excluding cases already underwent treatments, suspicious
cases and recurrent cases that needed to be examined by PET/CT.
However, it is recommended that the disbursement for PET/CT service should be considered in
Thai health service system due to low budgetary impact of 24-26 million baht per year. Moreover, the
budgetary support for this disbursement should not be managed within the capitation payment.
