The role of modelling in economic evaluation is explored by discussing, with examples, the uses of models. The expanded use of pragmatic clinical trials as an alternative to models is discussed. Some suggestions for good modelling practice are made. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Significant amounts of scarce resources are devoted to medical research, but there have been few attempts to assess whether the benefits to society of these investments exceed the costs. A method for undertaking such an assessment has been developed and applied retrospectively to the Diabetic...

The objective of this paper is to examine how well the QALY captures the health gains generated by cancer treatments, with particular focus on the methods for constructing QALYs preferred by the UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). Data were obtained using a keyword...

There is a global need for more training in pharmacoeconomics. Pharmacoeconomics is a relatively new discipline that draws from other more established disciplines; hence, multidisciplinary collaboration is recommended. Descriptions of opportunities for pharmacoeconomics education can be found in...

Until now, there has been no standardized method of performing and presenting budget impact analyses (BIAs) in Canada. Nevertheless, most drug plan managers have been requiring this economic data to inform drug reimbursement decisions. This paper describes the process used to develop the...

Introduction: From 2000 to 2004, primary care organisations (PCOs) in England were legally required to operate a prescribing incentive scheme for their general practices. A statutory framework specified the types of target, maximum rewards and use of `good cause for failure' provisions that...