Introduction to health economic evaluation

CPD Credits: 2    Duration: 2 hours    Access period: 60 days

This online course is an introductory, flexible and practical e-learning package that consists of 2 hours of CPD-approved online training. It will introduce the principles of health economics and its use in evaluating healthcare interventions and informing decision making regarding adoption of these interventions in clinical practice.

Module 1

• define the concept of opportunity cost
• indicate the key components required of an economic evaluation
• recognise the need to include alternative interventions in an economic evaluation
• differentiate between the different types of economic evaluations

Module 2 (Part A and B)

• list the basic components of a cost~effectiveness analysis
• describe the limitations of cost~effectiveness analyses
• recognise what the quality~adjusted life~year (QALY) is and how to calculate it
• define how quality of life is measured
• indicate the strengths and limitations of the QALY approach

Module 3

• summarise the uses of bottom~up and top~down costing methods
• identify which costs to include/exclude in an economic evaluation
• define time horizon
• assess the importance of perspective when calculating costs in an economic evaluation

Module 4

• calculate a simple incremental cost~effectiveness ratio (ICER) between two interventions
• interpret the cost~effectiveness plane
• perform an incremental analysis using multiple comparators
• assess the results of a net benefit calculation