Promoting human health and safety by reducing exposures to risks and harms through regulatory interventions is among the most important responsibilities of the government. Such efforts encompass a wide array of activities in many different contexts: improving air and water quality; safeguarding the food supply; reducing the risk of injury on the job, in transportation, and from consumer products; and minimizing exposure to toxic chemicals. Estimating the magnitude of the expected health and longevity benefits and reductions in mortality, morbidity, and injury risks helps policy makers decide whether particular interventions merit the expected costs associated with achieving these benefits and inform their choices among alternative strategies. Valuing Health for Regulatory Cost-Effectiveness Analysis provides useful recommendations for how to measure health-related quality of- life impacts for diverse public health, safety, and environmental regulations. Public decision makers, regulatory analysts, scholars, and students in the field will find this an essential review text. It will become a standard reference for all government agencies and those consultants and contractors who support the work of regulatory programs.

As expenditure on health care has increasingly become an area of public debate and concern, public and private health care decision-makers have called for more rigorous use of cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis to guide spending. Concerns have arisen, however, about the overall quality of such analyses. This book discusses and evaluates best-practice methods of conducting cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness studies of pharmaceuticals and other medical technologies. It encompasses a wide variety of topics, ranging from measuring cost and effectiveness to discounting to the use of dynamic modelling of cost-effectiveness. The book also includes conceptual and practical aspects of cost-effectiveness analysis by researchers who have conducted applied research in these areas. Rarely does the book provide a singular solution to a measurement problem; rather, the reader is directed to choices among alternative approaches and an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of each.

As health costs in the U.S. soar past $1.5 trillion, much evidence indicates that the nation does not get good value for its money. It is widely agreed that we could do better by using cost-effective analysis (CEA) to help determine which health care services are most worthwhile. American policy makers, however, have largely avoided using CEA, and researchers have devoted little attention to understanding why this is so. By considering the economic, social, legal, and ethical factors that contribute to the situation, and how they can be negotiated in the future, this book offers a unique perspective. It traces the roots of EA in health and medicine, describes its promise for rational resource allocation, and discusses the nature of the opposition to it, using Medicare and the Oregon health plans as examples. In exploring the disconnection between the promise of CEA and the persistent failure of rational intentions, the book seeks to find common ground and practical solutions. It analyzes the prospects for change and presents a roadmap for getting there. It offers pragmatic advice for cost-effectiveness analysts, discussing ways in which they can better translate their research findings into the basis for action. The book also offers advice for policy makers and politicians, including lessons from Europe, Canada, and Australia, and underlines the need for leadership to establish the conditions for change.

"Cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) has become the mainstay of many health care systems to estimate the value of medical interventions, and is used at least as a reference point in many more. The subject is taught widely in graduate programs involving health care, such as Master of Public Health, Master of Public Policy, and courses in medical schools and graduate business school courses. It is also taught extensively through online and in-person courses from such organizations as the Society for Medical Decision Making and ISPOR-The International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research, which has approximately 15,000 world-wide members. The Tufts University registry of CEA studies now contains over 11,000 entries. Clearly, cost-effectiveness analysis is a large and active "industry.""--

Preceded by: Cost-effectiveness in health and medicine / edited by Marthe R. Gold ... [et al.]. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.

In this book the authors explore the state of the art on efficiency measurement in health systems and international experts offer insights into the pitfalls and potential associated with various measurement techniques. The authors show that: - The core idea of efficiency is easy to understand in principle - maximizing valued outputs relative to inputs, but is often difficult to make operational in real-life situations - There have been numerous advances in data collection and availability, as well as innovative methodological approaches that give valuable insights into how efficiently health care is delivered - Our simple analytical framework can facilitate the development and interpretation of efficiency indicators.