PUB HLTH 7082 - Health Economic Evaluation & Decision Making

North Terrace Campus - Semester 1 - 2014

The course will provide state of the art knowledge on key theoretical and practical issues in the application of health economics to inform the efficient and equitable allocation of health care resources within the context of alternative health care systems. The course address a range of topic areas and technologies, expanding students' understanding of market failure in health care, and the issues around the provision of a publicly funded health care system, before focussing on the role of health economics within a publicly funded system. The latter addresses resource allocation frameworks (including new concepts such as price efficiency and the processes for displacement of existing technologies), the conduct of economic evaluation in health care (including alternative decision modelling techniques and methods of analysis, and valuation tools for eliciting utility values), value of information analysis to optimise research funding and methods for estimating hospital efficiency and their funding implications. The mix of tutorials and practicals will provide opportunities to critique theories and apply methods through specific preparation tasks as well as to work in teams to complete set tasks during the practicals. At the end of the course students will be well qualified for a position in health economics with a university, government or industry employer

  • General Course Information
    Course Details
    Course Code PUB HLTH 7082
    Course Health Economic Evaluation & Decision Making
    Coordinating Unit Public Health
    Term Semester 1
    Level Postgraduate Coursework
    Location/s North Terrace Campus
    Units 3
    Contact Up to 3 hours per week
    Prerequisites PUB HLTH 7081
    Assessment Three written assignments and a practical case study
    Course Staff

    Course Coordinator: Adjunct Professor Jonathan Karnon

    Course Coordinator: Jonathon Karnon
    Phone: +61 8313 3562
    Email: jonathon.karnon@adelaide.edu.au
    Location: Level 7, 178 North Terrace

    Additional Academic Staff: Hossein Afzali
    Phone: +61 8313 0615
    Email: hossein.hajialiafzali@adelaide.edu.au
    Location: Level 7, 178 North Terrace

    Learning and Teaching Team
    Phone: +61 8313 2128
    Email: postgrad_enq@adelaide.edu.au
    Location: Level 7, 178 North Terrace
    Course Timetable

    The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

  • Learning Outcomes
    Course Learning Outcomes
    1 Understand theoretical basis for decision making using economic evaluation
    2 Recognise practical constraints, and responses to decision making using economic evaluation
    3 Understand the advantages and disadvantages of alternative methodological frameworks for economic evaluation
    4 Demonstrated experience of applying of all components of a model-based economic evaluation (implementation, population, calibration, and analysis)
    5 Understanding and application of model-based cost-effectiveness methods to performance measurement, benchmarking, and quality improvement in health care
    6 Demonstrated knowledge of alternative health care funding models and their relation to economic evaluation and opportunity cost
    University Graduate Attributes

    This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

    University Graduate Attribute Course Learning Outcome(s)
    Knowledge and understanding of the content and techniques of a chosen discipline at advanced levels that are internationally recognised. 1, 3, 4
    The ability to locate, analyse, evaluate and synthesise information from a wide variety of sources in a planned and timely manner. 4, 5
    An ability to apply effective, creative and innovative solutions, both independently and cooperatively, to current and future problems. 2-5
    Skills of a high order in interpersonal understanding, teamwork and communication. 4, 5
    A proficiency in the appropriate use of contemporary technologies. 4, 5
    A commitment to continuous learning and the capacity to maintain intellectual curiosity throughout life. 2, 6
    An awareness of ethical, social and cultural issues within a global context and their importance in the exercise of professional skills and responsibilities. 2, 6
  • Learning Resources
    Required Resources
    Health Economic Evaluation and Decision Making reading brick
    Recommended Resources
    University of Adelaide Excel Online Course Levels 1 and 2 (for students with no prior experience of Excel)
    A Briggs, M Sculpher, K Claxton, Decision Modelling for Health Economic Evaluation, 2006, ISBN10: 0198526628. Oxford University Press
    Online Learning
    TBA (this course will be offered on-line from 2015)
  • Learning & Teaching Activities
    Learning & Teaching Modes
    The central learning and teaching approach is lectures supported by problem-solving tutorials developing material covered in lectures.
    Workload

    The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

    Three hours of face-to-face teaching has been allocated for each of the 12 semester weeks, comprising a mix of lectures, and computer and non-computer-based practical sessions. In between these sessions, students will be expected to consolidate content knowledge via assessed and non-assessed assignments.
    Learning Activities Summary
    Week Topic Lecture
    Week 1 Economic evaluation and opportunity cost Economic evaluation review; Decision making in theory; The centrality of opportunity cost, what is it and how can it be estimated?
    Week 2 Decision trees When, where, and how to use decision trees as a framework for economic evaluation?
    Week 3 Trial-based economic evaluation When, where, and how to use clinical trials as a framework for economic evaluation?
    Week 4 State transition modeling When, where, and how to use state transition models as a framework for economic evaluation? The basics
    Week 5 Sensetivity analysis What are, and how to apply, deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analysis methods?
    Week 6 State transition modelling - extensions Parameterising clinical parameters
    Week 7 State transition modelling - extensions Parameterising cost parameters
    Week 8 State transition modelling - extensions Parameterising utility parameters
    Week 9 Discounting costs and outcomes Why do we discount costs and outcomes, and how?
    Week 10 Model calibration What is, and how to apply, model calibration techniques?
    Week 11 Service evaluation and quality improvement How to use economic evaluation methods to evaluate services and inform quality improvement?
    Week 12 Allocating resources in the real world What alternative approaches have been used to inform the allocation of scarce health care resources?
    Week 13 Assignment review Providing support with respect to the final and main assessment task
    Small Group Discovery Experience
    The problem solving elements of the course are undertaken in small groups, with close oversight from the lecturers to support discovery around the application of health economic methods.
  • Assessment

    The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

    1. Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
    2. Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
    3. Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
    4. Assessment must maintain academic standards.

    Assessment Summary
    Assessment Task Assessment Type Weighting Learning Outcome(s) being addressed
    Opportunity cost short Q&A assessment Summative 40% 1, 2, 6
    Staged application of a model-based economic evaluation Summative 60% 3-5
    Assessment Detail
    Assessment task 1 requires 2 to 3 sentence answers to 10 questions relating to the concept of opportunity cost: concerning theoretical and practical issues around the estimation of opportunity cost, and the use of economic evaluation to inform funding decisions.

    Assessment task 2 involves the replication of a published decision analytic cost-effectiveness model, re-analysis of the model to evaluate a newer intervention, and a report of the methods and findings.
    Submission

    No information currently available.

    Course Grading

    Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

    M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
    Grade Mark Description
    FNS   Fail No Submission
    F 1-49 Fail
    P 50-64 Pass
    C 65-74 Credit
    D 75-84 Distinction
    HD 85-100 High Distinction
    CN   Continuing
    NFE   No Formal Examination
    RP   Result Pending

    Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

    Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

    Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

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    The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

    SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.

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