Short course
Practical Methods for Health Economic Evaluation
Overview
Economic evaluation is widely used to assess many new health care interventions and technologies and is routinely used to allocate scarce health care resources.
The purpose of this course run by the Health Economics Unit within the Centre for Health Policy is to familiarise participants with the methods and techniques that are currently routinely used in evaluations with an emphasis on cost- effectiveness analysis. The course will cover the common steps in an evaluation, from methods for collecting cost and outcome data to analysing, reporting and interpreting the final results.
Who is this course designed for?
The course is designed for those who are or will be engaged in undertaking cost-effectiveness analysis, or for those who need a more detailed understanding of the current methods of health economic evaluation to assist in using the evidence from economic evaluations to inform resource allocation decisions. This will include researchers, consultants and those assessing economic evaluations from public, commercial and academic organisations.
Pre-requisites
Participants should have a prior familiarisation of STATA software and an appreciation of the concepts of health economic evaluation. It is also recommended to be familiar with introductory statistics and Microsoft Excel. The course will be ‘hands-on’, and participants will be expected to bring a laptop computer (and mouse) with Microsoft Excel for use throughout the course. All other software will be supplied as part of the course materials. If you wish to discuss your suitability for this course, or make special arrangements to hire a laptop, please contact: health-economics@unimelb.edu.au
Course dates
Dates: 21st-23rd April 2021 (Online)
Dates: 27th-29th October (In-person)
Course outline
The course will involve a series of modules that build on each other to provide an overview of all the steps required for health economic evaluation.
Day 1
Study Design Principles (morning)
- Overview of cost-effectiveness analysis?
- What health economic data need to be collected?
- Summary of key data sources including: clinical trials; linked administrative data; synthesis of the literature
Techniques for Analysing Costs (afternoon)
- Features of cost data
- Regression methods for analysing health care cost data
Day 2
Techniques for Analysing Outcomes (morning)
- Quantifying outcomes using life tables and an overview of survival analysis techniques including Kaplan Meier, as well as parametric survival functions
- Capturing and analysing preference based measures of quality of life
Introduction to decision models (afternoon)
- Building a decision tree
- Introduction to TreeAge including defining transitions and rewards in terms of costs and utilities
Day 3
Markov modelling and Applications
Conducting cost-effectiveness analysis including modelling Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) and costs
- Capturing uncertainty and sensitivity analysis
- Presenting and interpreting results for decision makers
Each module will be re-enforced by exercises in Excel and the specialist modelling software TreeAge and we will demonstrate aspects of the course using the statistical software STATA.
Course leaders
A/ Prof. Kim Dalziel, Head of Health Economics Unit, Centre for Health Policy, University of Melbourne
Prof. Andrew Palmer, Head of Health Economics Research Unit, Menzies Research Institute, University of Tasmania
Dr. An Duy Tran (coordinator), Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Health Policy, University of Melbourne
How much is it?
21-23rd April 2021 (Online)
Early bird - up until one month before course commencement: $1,950 (GST inclusive)
Normal rates (non-early bird): $2,390 (GST inclusive)
27th-29th October (In-person)
Price: 2200$ (early bird) $2640 (non-early bird, less than four weeks before the course)
Discounts are available for professionals from low-to-middle-income countries, students, and alumni by enquiring through the email: health-economics@unimelb.edu.au
For courses held in a classroom, lunch, morning tea and afternoon tea will be provided.
Extensive course notes will be distributed as well as a copy of the widely used Oxford University Press book Applied Methods of Cost-effectiveness Analysis in Healthcare.
Application procedure
Applications for courses can be filled out online via eCart.
Applications close the day before the course date.
For participants registering close to the course date, please be informed that we may not be able to cater to extra requests or specific dietary requirements. We are also unable to guarantee the availability of complete participant materials for the course (name tags, completion certificates). Where completion certificates are not available these will be mailed out to you after the course.
Further Enquiries:
E: health-economics@unimelb.edu.au
Ph: +61 3 8344 9111
Payment is via the University’s eCart
Course Information
Key dates
21st-23rd April 2021 (Online)
27th-29th October (In-person)
Fees
Early Bird - 21st-23rd April 2021 (Online): $1950
Non-Early Bird - 21st-23rd April 2021 (Online): $2390 (Less than four weeks before the course.)
Early Bird - 27th-29th October 2021 (In-person): $2200
Non-Early Bird 27th-29th October 2021 (In-person): $2640 (Less than four weeks before the course.)
Location
The University of Melbourne
Entry requirements
There are no formal prerequisites, but participants should have an appreciation of the concepts of health economic evaluation and should be familiar with introductory statistics and Microsoft Excel.