Economic impact of automated primary screening for cervical cancer

OBJECTIVE: To construct a markovian model to project the marginal cost of the AutoPap(R) System as compared to manual cervical cytologic screening. STUDY DESIGN: Data from a clinical trial and published literature were entered into a seven-state markovian decision-analytic model to estimate the marginal cost per year of life saved that could be attributed to changes in primary screening technology. RESULTS: Annual screening with AutoPap(R) produced a meaningful increase in life expectancy of 32.1 days relative to manual screening at a marginal savings of $628 per person (or a marginal savings of $7,144 per life-year saved). Less frequent screening yielded lower positive savings. CONCLUSION: Automated screening for cervical cancer has the potential to significantly improve health care outcomes and reduce cost.