Drug coverage decisions require information about clinically relevant benefits and risks, as well as economic information about direct and indirect costs, in comparison with relevant treatment alternatives. A recent Canadian initiative aims to improve the evidentiary basis for drug coverage...

Choosing between preference-based instruments of health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) in particular situations is an important area for research. Even where instruments can be assumed to be measuring the same thing, they may not be interchangeable. The study presented investigates the extent...

In health economic evaluations, value added tax is commonly treated as a transfer payment. Following this argument, resources are valued equal to their net-of-tax prices in economic evaluations applying a societal perspective. In this article we argue that if there is the possibility that a new...

Understanding why healthcare costs vary between patients and between health facilities is important in guiding health policy decisions as well as in research. However, there is no comprehensive framework that analysts commonly use for expressing and examining causes of cost variation in the...

Health policy has shifted towards placing a greater emphasis on the role of lifestyle and life circumstances in improving health. The factors that are associated with poor health status are known, but the comparative effectiveness of specific policy interventions in improving health and reducing...

Background: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is, at least in part, associated with high antimicrobial usage and causes increased morbidity, mortality and healthcare costs. However, policies to contain AMR focus on `micro' interventions - typically in one institution (usually a hospital)....

There is increasing recognition that decision modelling is central to health technology assessment and, in particular, to analyses to support formal decision making regarding the funding of the use of new technologies. In part, the key role of decision analysis stems from the need to handle...

In Germany, the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) makes recommendations for ceiling prices of drugs based on an evaluation of the relationship between costs and effectiveness. To set ceiling prices, IQWiG uses the following decision rule: the incremental...