Economic Evaluation and Decision Making in Health

All countries are facing the problem of addressing the health needs of a diverse population with constrained budgets. Economic evaluation of health care interventions provides insight into which interventions provide value for money in terms of the health gain achieved relative to cost. In this unit we will discuss the different types of economic evaluation and methods for collecting and analysing cost and outcome data for use in economic evaluation studies. Economic evaluations vary in complexity, and we will explore both basic health economic evaluations and methods for more complex evaluations. The fundamental reason for conducting an economic evaluation is to inform decisions about health policy and programs or treatment options. We will also examine how to interpret the results of economic evaluations so they can contribute to making evidence-based choices between alternative activities with different implications for resource allocation.

What you'll learn

• demonstrate an understanding of methods used in the economic evaluation of health care
• apply the methods for collecting and analysing cost and outcome data for use in economic evaluation
• incorporate the principles of decision modelling in economic evaluation to plan a model
• interpret the results of economic evaluation studies from the perspective of decision makers