PS3-02: CAVEAT EMPTOR? A FRAMEWORK TO CONSIDER VALUE-BASED EDUCATION
Carl Gustaf S Axelsson, MD, MPhil, MMSc1, Michael G Healy, EdD1, Traci Wolbrink, MD, MPH2, Julia King3, Evan S Sanders, EdM4, Roy Phitayakorn, MD, MHPE, MEd, FACS1; 1Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 2Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 3Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, 4Harvard Medical School
Background: Value-based care uses a variety of metrics to ensure that a new treatment is both effective and economical. In medical education, there is an influx of new technologies and applications. Some technologies, e.g. video-based educational technologies, can be very expensive to both purchase and maintain within a surgery department. However, there is a lack of financial frameworks to estimate the costs associated with introducing new technologies for teaching medical students or resident physicians.
Methods: We performed a focused literature review to create a framework (‘REC’ – ‘Roles’, ‘Equipment’ and ‘Consumables’) for the evaluation of three recent neurosurgery video-based modules, all of different length and apparent complexity, aimed at medical students at Harvard Medical School.
Results: Table 1 includes the total cost for each module. Total costs vary from $1774-4349 USD. The most expensive component of these video-based education modules is the time cost, and specifically if there is a greater opportunity cost in terms of lost clinical revenue and lost salary from other activities. This cost is highly variable depending on the level of clinical seniority of the individuals involved in the video production process. Some costs were minimized in our video production process due to favorable resource availability, minimal use of equipment/simulators, and minimal opportunity cost. Modules are expected to be updated every 3-5 years so the total cost of producing the videos can be spread out over the time during which these videos are used.
Figure 1. REC Framework as applied to three educational modules
Conclusion: Application of the ‘REC’ framework to the three modules showed highly variable time and monetary cost differences between the modules. The difference in cost was strongly related to the length of each video, given the lack of any significant additional variable costs in our usage case. Usage of the ‘REC’-framework will enable educators and module creators to institute effective planning, efficient use of already available resources, and a clear definition of a minimal viable education product to achieve desired learning outcomes. Further work will apply the framework in other video development settings and compare total costs per learner and outcome when compared to traditional didactic methods.