The literature comparing diaries and questionnaires was reviewed in order to identify the most appropriate method of collecting patient self-reported data, on health service utilisation and out-ofpocket costs, for a longitudinal study. Nine published studies met the review inclusion criteria;...

In June 1990 the Australian Health Ministers endorsed a policy, known as the Nationally Funded Centres (NFC) programme, aimed at providing new and developing technologies in a coordinated and planned way on a national basis. The principal objective was to ensure that such technologies were...

Objectives Individuals with chronic conditions represent a high healthcare cost group and understanding the cost variation among individuals is important for developing appropriate policy. This study aimed to investigate the sources of variation in the cost of healthcare for a cohort of people...

The aims of this paper are: to review and describe different approaches to HTA used in Australia and in other countries and to identify the features of best practice in HTA, particularly those likely to be most relevant to HTA at a local (ie state/regional) level. There are a number of...

In the seventies, the bulk of Australian prescribing outside of hospitals took place under a government subsidised scheme known as the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). Using two sources of data, one from PBS dispensing only, and the other including private sales, trends in the volume of...

The development of new genetic technology brings with it responsibility for evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of testing programs, including gaining an understanding of the value of information. This study examined the factors individuals took into account when making decisions about...