Abstract
Background: Since hypertension prevalence has increased, its economic burden has also
increased in all regions, including Pandeglang District in Banten Province, Indonesia. In 2014, the
government launched a chronic disease management programme (Prolanis) to optimise
hypertension treatment in Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) through the Social Health
Insurance Administration Body (BPJS Kesehatan). Pharmacists' counseling is important in this as
it can increase the effectiveness of hypertension treatment. Objective: To investigate the costeffectiveness of pharmacists’ counselling for Prolanis hypertension patients at PHCs. Methods:
An experimental study was conducted at 16 PHCs using a purposive sampling method. The total
sample included 96 Prolanis hypertension patients divided into two groups of 48 participants (an
intervention and control group). Incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was applied by
comparing the cost per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gained in both groups. A validated
EuroQol-5 Dimension-5 Level (EQ-5D-5L) questionnaire and its Indonesian value set were
employed to measure patient quality of life, and the local GDP per capita threshold for costeffectiveness was used. Results: Pharmacists' counseling intervention is cost-effective (ICER:
IDR.2,000-28,307 per QALY-gained) within several scenarios with varying fees. Sensitivity analysis
showed that the patient's utility score and the pharmacist`s counseling fee were the most
influential parameters impacting the ICER. Conclusion: Pharmacist`s counselling can be
considered as a promising intervention to optimise Prolanis hypertension treatments at PHCs.