Value of Implementation of Strategies to Increase the Adherence of Health Professionals and Cancer Survivors to Guideline-Based Physical Exercise

Background To increase the adherence of health professionals and cancer survivors to evidence-based physical exercise, effective implementation strategies (ISTs) are required. Objectives To examine to what extent these ISTs provide value for money and which IST has the highest expected value. Methods The net benefit framework of health economic evaluations is used to conduct a value-of-implementation analysis of nine ISTs. Seven are directed to health professionals and two to cancer survivors. The analysis consists of four steps: 1) analyzing the expected value of perfect implementation (EVPIM); 2) assessing the estimated costs of the various ISTs; 3) comparing the ISTs’ costs with the EVPIM; and 4) assessing the total net benefit (TNB) of the ISTs. These steps are followed to identify which strategy has the greatest value. Results The EVPIM for physical exercise in the Netherlands is €293 million. The total costs for the ISTs range from €34,000 for printed educational materials for professionals to €120 million for financial incentives for patients, and thus all are cost-effective. The TNB of the ISTs that are directed to professionals ranges from €5.7 million for printed educational materials to €30.9 million for reminder systems. Of the strategies that are directed to patients, only the motivational program had a positive net benefit of €100.4 million. Conclusions All the ISTs for cancer survivors, except for financial incentives, had a positive TNB. The largest improvements in adherence were created by a motivational program for patients, followed by a reminder system for professionals.