PLEASE NOTE: This course has had a change of code - up to and including 2009 it was PHPH9114.

As limits are placed on health care budgets, the relative value of competing uses of scarce resources is becoming a significant part of decision making. Pharmacoeconomics assists the decision-maker by determining the comparative value of a product, and whether this value is worth the loss of benefits that could have been obtained by using the money in a different way. In the Australian environment, pharmacoeconomic analyses are considered by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee which advises the Minister on whether the product should be reimbursed under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). They are also used in hospital formulary submissions within the public hospital setting, and in support material and publications for doctors. Pharmacoeconomic models can help to assess the potential value of a product and they can also identify threshold levels of efficacy that must be met for the product to be commercially viable.

This course focuses on the principles of pharmacoeconomics, the process of obtaining reimbursement of a product on the PBS, and issues in applying pharmacoeconomic theory to the real world. The course also covers economic concepts, efficiency, equity and ethics of decision making in the health care field and provides an overview of pharmacoeconomics internationally. Specific areas include the different types of economic analysis, sources of data, randomised trials versus naturalistic or pragmatic trials, quality of life and assessment of utility, and league tables. This is of benefit to those wishing to work in the area of pharmacoeconomics or broaden their knowledge base in this important area.

Note: This is course is elective for Programme 9060.