Health Economic Evaluation Methods

At the start of the course issues in moral philosophy are discussed in relation to principles of economics concerning the prioritization of resources to health. Then, the four most common health economic evaluation methods are analyzed. These methods are cost analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis, cost-utility analysis and cost-benefit analysis. These methods are being used to answer questions of the following type: Should a new drug replace an old one? Is it cost-effective? Should a prevention program for a certain disease be started? Is it worth the cost? How are priorities made in health care and in which way can economic analysis contribute to the basis for decision-making? This is followed by a discussion about methods used to critically analyze articles and reports about health economic evaluations. Also, the question about how to present such studies is discussed. In addition to this, measures on the disease burden in different societies are analyzed in relation to measures of health related quality of life. Special attention is given to equity considerations as well as the theoretical background of health economic evaluation in terms of welfarism and extra-welfarism.