Economic Assessment of Health Care

COURSE OBJECTIVE
Learning objectives for this course are:

Academic and Research Skills:
- the student is able to conduct a basic statistical analysis for an economic evaluation;
- the student is able to coherently report findings from an economic evaluation in a written report;
- the student is able to critically assess a published economic evaluation;
- the student is able to design a basic economic evaluation alongside a randomized controlled trial;
- the student is able to correctly interpret and report the findings from an economic evaluation alongside a randomized controlled trial;
- the student is able to perform a basic cost-effectiveness analysis (Incremental Cost-Effectiveness Ratio, bootstrapping, cost-effectiveness
plane, cost-effectiveness acceptability curve) within a structured assignment.

Bridging Theory and Practice - Knowledge
- the student is able to explain why economic evaluations are fundamental for making allocation decisions in health care;
- the student has basic knowledge on the design, analysis, interpretation and reporting of economic evaluations.

Bridging Theory and Practice - Application
- the student is able to formulate a reimbursement decision based on the knowledge obtained from an economic evaluation.

COURSE CONTENT
At the end of this course, you know the basic essentials of economic evaluations of health care processes and health care technology. You will be able to make an informed choice between a trial-based and a model-based approach. The limitations of economic evaluations will be clear and they can be taken into account in designing a specific evaluation project. You will be able to critically assess the results of cost-effectiveness studies conducted alongside a randomized controlled trial, and you will be able to interpret and use information from published economic evaluations.

TEACHING METHODS
Lectures, tutorials (including computer practice)

TYPE OF ASSESSMENT
Written exam: individual assessment, 60% of the final grade, minimum required 5.5
Assignments: group assessment (groups of two students), 40% of the final grade, minimum required 5.5, maximum grade resit 6.5