Calendar of Events Details
An introduction to the application of cost effectiveness analysis in health / One Day Short Course
Date: 26-Oct-07
Location: The George Institute - Camperdown, Sydney
Speaker: Philip Clarke, Alison Hayes, Kirsten Howard, Stephen Jan, Glen Salkeld, Debora Schofield and Marian Shanahan
The George Institute for International Health
Level 10, King George V Building
Royal Prince Alfred Hospital
Missenden Rd Camperdown
Across the globe, health sector organisations, both public and private, are increasingly being required to take economic considerations into account in their decision-making.
Course description
This course provides an introduction to the use of economic analysis in evaluating health programs. The course aims to provide participants with an understanding of priority setting and the application of cost-effectiveness. It entails a combination of short lectures, case studies and practical class exercises.
Who should attend
It is targeted at policy makers, clinicians, researchers, managers and others working in the health sector who may be dealing with these economic issues. No previous knowledge of health economics is required.
Course outline
Module 1
Key concepts in economic evaluation Introductory concepts in economics and economic evaluation including the role of economic evaluation, the various techniques (cost minimisation, cost-effectiveness, cost-utility and cost-benefit) and the valuation of health outcomes using measures such as quality adjusted life years (QALYs).
Module 2
Economic evaluation in practice This will involve presentation of case study showing how cost effectiveness analysis can be used to evaluate smoking cessation interventions. Participants will then undertake an exercise carrying out a cost-effectiveness analysis.
Module 3
The theory and practice of using economics approaches to priority setting This module will cover techniques that can be used in priority setting including program budgeting and marginal analysis, QALY league tables and using the burden of disease. The session will start with an exercise designed the issues that arise when allocating resources within the health sector (e.g. the trade-off between equity and efficiency), followed by an examination of the economic approaches to addressing these problems.
Attendance information
Course Brochure and Registration Form
This is a one day course beginning at 9:30 am and finishing at 5pm. Lunch and morning and afternoon teas will be provided.
Course participants will be given a set of materials containing course notes and other relevant readings.
Concessional rates for group bookings are available upon request.
Course leaders
Philip Clarke is Associate Professor in the School of Public Health, University of Sydney. His health economic research interests include developing methods to value the benefits of health care, health inequalities and the using of simulation modelling.
Alison Hayes is a Research Fellow in the School of Public Health, University of Sydney. She is currently working on a health economic simulation model of diabetes, and valuing quality of life in large clinical trials.
Kirsten Howard is a Senior Lecturer in Health Economics at the School of Public Health, University of Sydney. Her research interests include the application of health economics and decision analysis to screening and diagnostic tests, measuring patient preferences using discrete choice experiments. She is presently a member of the Economics Sub-Committee of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee.
Stephen Jan is the Senior Health Economist at the George Institute for International Health. He has a track record of research in economic evaluation, equity and health, particularly relating to indigenous health. He is a member of the Economics Sub-Committee of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee.
Glenn Salkeld is an Associate Professor in Health Economics and Acting Head of the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney. Glenn has published widely on methods for preference elicitation, particularly in the area of bowel cancer screening, and the economics of pharmaceuticals.
Associate Professor Deborah Schofield is Director of Research & Acting Head of Department at the Northern Rivers University Department of Rural Health, School of Public Health, University of Sydney. Her career has spanned the Australian Government public service, academia and clinical practice and is a leader in economic modelling of the health system and long term forecasting of health expenditure.
Marian Shanahan is a Health Economist at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales. She has extensive experience in the conduct of economic evaluations of interventions to reduce substance abuse, health system reviews, and the use of large administrative data sets.