Local Level Economic EvaluationAn article in the British Medical Journal caught my eye as it talks informaing local level decision making. It raised the issue of the gaps due to the remit of some agencies like the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in the UK. The authors make the point that while NICE decides on what should be funded by the National Health Service it does so in a setting where there are no funds ringfenced for the new interventions approved. As no specific guidance is given on what should be
'un-funded' the process of NICE guidance
can contribut to the
postcode prescribing it is supposed to decrease
. Of course NICE has increased its guidance for implementation and it is possible that this type of guidance may become part of that initiative in the future.
Worth a read:
See BMJ November 25th edition
How much will Herceptin really cost?by Ann Barrett, Tom Roques, Matthew Small, and Richard D Smith
(free for week then subscription needed)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/short/333/7578/1118?etoc
The Perfect Posting: Economic Impact of Avian InfluenzaWhere do we start? This is actually an opportunity to contribute to a blog posting on the impact of 'Bird Flu' on the healthcare sector in a developing country. The assumption is that the following topics are essential: Potential socioeconomic impact of pandemics/ avian influenza, What is ‘bird flu’?, Modes of transmission (bird to bird, bird to human or human to
Human), Assessing the economic impact, Modeling the health impact.
A couple of 'reference' articles:
Derek J. Smith,
Predictability and Preparedness in Influenza Control, Science, Apr 2006; 312: 392 - 394
The Global Economic and Financial Impact of an Avian Flu Pandemic and the Role of the IMF Prepared by the Avian Flu Working Group (in consultation with Departments and the Joint Bank-Fund Health Services Department) February 28, 2006
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/afp/2006/eng/022806.htmNewcomb, James (2005),
Economic Risks Associated with an Influenza Pandemic, Bio Economic Research Associates (bio-era), Cambridge, MA., November.
Preparing for the Next Pandemic By M.T. OsterholmNew England Journal of Medicine.
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/352/18/1839Stacey L. Knobler, Alison Mack, Adel Mahmoud, Stanley M. Lemon, Editors,
The Threat of Pandemic Influenza: Are We Ready?, Workshop Summary
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11150.htmlAre We Ready? (A large-scale disaster like a pandemic flu or terrorist attack could overwhelm the nation's healthcare providers), By Katherine Hobson
5/1/06 (from
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/health/articles/060501/1disaster_4.htm )
Just flagging a couple of promising looking links:
WHO European region evidence for policy site
http://www.euro.who.int/evidence/policy/20040623_1UK Centre for Evidence Based Policy publications
http://evidencenetwork.org/cgi-win/enet.exe/pubs?QMWFeel free to email me with your links to organisations/sites that look at evidence and policy.
How to produce research that influences healthcare decision making Wouldn't we all like to know why some work results in action being taken and other work.. well produces no such response. Patwardhan and collegues (2006) in the winter edition of IJTAHC seek for answers by reviewing the literature and conducting interviews with producers and consumers of technical reports. Worth a read. In a nutshell they appear to be suggesting that:
- It needs to be clear what the (potential/intended) users are looking for (major changes in the scope of work have implications for the time and budget required, fesability and thus success of the project).
- There needs to be open communication between the users and producers
- The team and processes need to be conducive to producing a good quality report
What other guides should one follow in increasing the chances that the output of one's research are taken on board by policy makers?
