Out-of-pocket health expenditures in Australia are high in international comparisons and have been growing at a faster rate than most other health costs in recent years. This raises concerns about the extent to which out-of-pocket costs have constrained access to health services for low income...

Background: As the population ages, the incidence of dementia and its burden on society will increase. The economic costs of dementia are high, particularly for persons in the mid and late stages of the disease, when formal care arrangements such as nursing home placement are required. The need...

A randomized controlled trial comparing the use of PET versus no PET provided the opportunity to investigate the value patients placed on any additional information provided by the PET scan. Interviews were undertaken with patients after their diagnosis had been made and, in the case of those...

When consumers have private information about risk of suffering a loss, or equivalently, if insurers are prohibited from using observable information on risk in underwriting, theoretical models of insurance predict adverse selection. Yet the most common finding in empirical studies is that of no...

Economic evaluations of health care programs are relatively common. However, the costs reported often use budgetary information alone, rather than undertake the potentially more complex task of using a variety of routinely collected data for which adjustments and assumptions will need to be...

The initial diagnosis of Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) is often in the advance stages of the condition, as patients are only promoted for an examination when sight has been affected. An innovative prognostic technique has recently been made available which can non-invasively detect the damaging...

Despite the success internationally of cervical screening programs debate continues about optimal program design. This includes increasing participation rates among under-screened women, reducing unnecessary early re-screening, improving accuracy of and confidence in screening tests, and...

There is an increasing expectation that families will provide care at home for those with chronic, acute and terminal illness. There is a range of services available to support the home care of these patients. Carers of those in the terminal phase of illness face different demands and challenges...

Background: Economic evaluation of healthcare interventions and technologies using the quality-adjusted life year (or life year) usually values outcomes independently of who they accrue to. This is a simplifying assumption relating to the more complex societal preferences. While the premise of...