International Journal of Health Policy and Management

International Journal of Health Policy and Management

It’s Not the Model, It’s the Way You Use It: Exploratory Early Health Economics Amid Complexity; Comment on “Problems and Promises of Health Technologies: The Role of Early Health Economic Modelling”

Document Type : Commentary

Authors
Andrew Partington 1, 2
Jonathan Karnon 1
1 Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia
2 Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University, Macquarie Park, NSW, Australia
10.15171/ijhpm.2020.04
Abstract
In a review recently published in this journal, Grutters et al outline the scope and impact of their early health economic modelling of healthcare innovations. Their reflections shed light on ways that health economists can shift-away from traditional reimbursement decision-support, towards a broader role of facilitating the exploration of existing care pathways, and the design of options to implement or discontinue healthcare services. This is a crucial role in organisations that face constant pressure to react and adapt with changes to their existing service configurations, but where there may exist significant disagreement and uncertainty on the extent to which change is warranted. Such dynamics are known to create complex implementation environments, where changes risk being poorly implemented or fail to be sustained. In this commentary, we extend the discussion by Grutters et al on early health economic modelling, to the evaluation of complex interventions and systems. We highlight how early health economic modelling can contribute to a participatory approach for ongoing learning and development within healthcare organisations.
Keywords
Economic Evaluation
Health Systems
Complexity
Decision-Making
Early Assessment
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International Journal of Health Policy and Management
Volume 10, Issue 1
January 2021
Pages 36-38

  • Received Date 29 October 2019
  • Revised Date 05 January 2020
  • Accepted Date 07 January 2020
  • First Published Date 01 January 2021
  • Published Date 01 January 2021