Introduction to Health Economic Evaluation
Access to the online course materials will be provided two weeks before the live sessions, so lectures and practical exercises can be viewed and worked through before the live sessions, at a time convenient to participants.
academic course co-ordinators
Overview
This course provides a starting point for anyone involved in the healthcare sector who needs an introduction to the language of economics and economic evaluation. It explains how economists evaluate the costs and benefits of health interventions, and how health economics is used by decision makers in the health services and in the pharmaceutical and medical technology industries.
INTRODUCTORY MODULE
Watch module 1 of the course
who is this course for?
This course is for health professionals and health researchers who want to understand the basics of health economics and its relevance to the health service. No previous knowledge of economics is required.
For those with some general knowledge of health economics, or economic evaluation, it will serve as an introduction to the Applied Methods of Cost-Effectiveness Analysis course.
The course is for a UK-based audience, and is taught in English, but the content is applicable to healthcare professionals worldwide.
COURSE CONTENT
Over four modules, the course introduces key health economic concepts, and the design, conduct and analysis of economic evaluation in healthcare.
Module 1: Introduction to key health economic concepts
- What is economics?
- Types of economic evaluation
- Introduction to cost-effectiveness analysis
Module 2: Measuring and valuing outcomes
- Introducing measures of health status
- Techniques used to value health states
- Using multi-attribute utility scales
- Calculating Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs)
Module 3: Measuring and valuing costs
- Defining costs
- Measuring and valuing resource use
- Which costs should be included?
- Calculating and comparing costs
Module 4: Interpreting and using cost-effectiveness analysis in decision making
- Incremental analysis
- Decision rules
- Priority setting
- Use of cost-effectiveness information
Modules will comprise of a mix of pre-recorded lectures, practical exercises to reinforce the presentations, and live sessions with tutors to go over exercises and provide an opportunity for questions.
learning outcomes
By the end of the course participants will be able to:
- understand why economic evaluation is undertaken;
- identify the strengths and limitations of the different types of economic evaluation;
- understand the construction of a Quality Adjusted Life Year (QALY) and how to obtain utility weights;
- identify the key elements needed to generate costs, and understand how to analyse cost data
- understand how to interpret cost-effectiveness results;
- understand the use and limitations of cost-effectiveness league tables as a method of prioritising health interventions.
For enquiries, please email the HERC Administration team, or complete this online form to be added to a waiting list for future courses.