Introduction To Health Economics Flashcards
What is opportunity cost
The opportunity cost of an activity is the sacrifice in terms of the benefits forgone from not allocating resource to the next best activity
For example-
To spend resource on on activity such as heart transplants means a sacrifice in terms of a lost opportunity cost elsewhere such as fewer hip replacements
What is economic efficiency
It can be achieved when resources are allocated between activities in such a way as to maximise the benefit
What is the economic evaluation
Economic evaluation is the assessment of efficiency
It is a comparative study of the costs and benefits of alternative health care interventions for some given disease
Costs and benefits are evaluated
How do we measure health benefit
Natural units
QALYs
Monetary Value
What does QALY stand for
The Quality-adjusted life year
What does QALYs combine
It combines the length of life with quality of life
What is the most commonly used metric for economic evaluation
QALYs
What is meant by monetary value
The willingness to pay, so how much is someone willing to pay for the health benefit
How do we measure health costs
Monetary units
All relevant costs should be measured eg- drug treatment, hospital stays, appointments, managing adverse effects, scans and imaging
What costs does it being to the NHS
What are the 4 types of economic evaluation
Cost-effectiveness analysis
Cost-utility analysis
Cost-benefit analysis
Cost-minimisation analysis
What are the outcomes measured in cost-effectiveness analysis
Outcomes are measured in natural units
What are the outcomes measure in the cost-utility analysis
Outcomes measured in QALYs
What are the outcomes measured in the cost-benefit analysis
Outcomes are measured in monetary units
What are the outcomes measured in for the cost-minimisation analysis
Outcomes are measured in any units
Just minimise the costs
What is the incremental cost effectiveness ratio
Difference in costs / difference in benefits
Why do we need the health economic models
Health economic modelling can allow us to
Induce all relevant comparators
Synthesise all relevant evidence
Translate from surrogate to final endpoint
Extrapolate event risks, outcomes and costs beyond the observed period of trial
Account for decision uncertainty
What is the national institute for health and care excellence
It is an executive non-departmental public body of the department of health and social care
What is the role of the national institute for health and care excellence
They make decisions on wether new treatments should be offered by the NHS, partly based on cost-effectiveness
What is equity
Equity is concerned with the fairness or justice of the distribution of costs and benefits
What are the alternative approaches to an economic approach
Spend the whole UK GDP on health and have rationing
Let waiting lists do the rationing
Let those who shout the loudest get what they want
Ignore the problem until the money runs out and everything then stops
Borrow more and more money and leave the debt to others
What is health related quality of life
A combination of a persons physical, mental and social wellbeing
What is health utility
A measure of strength of a persons preference for a specific health state in relation to an alternative health states
What is quality-adjusted life years
An index of survival that is adjusted to account for the patients HRQoL
QALYs incorporates changes in both quantity and quality of life
What is perspective
The viewpoint from which an economic evaluation is conducted
