Pharmacoeconomics

Opportunity cost​ is the idea that by doing one thing we lose the ❌ of doing something else​. The opportunity 'cost' is the ❌ that we would have got from the next best ❌ use​, that we miss out on. We aim to identify the (health) benefit that could have been gained from the best available alternative​.

Economic evaluation is an ❌ consideration of the ❌ involved in a decision to​ commit ❌ to one use instead of another​. Economic evaluation will create an ❌.
A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis gives estimates of the​:
Extra cost (i.e. ∆C > 0)​
Extra effect (i.e. ∆E > 0)​
Extra cost for one more unit of effect (i.e. is ❌ big?)​

The language of trade-offs:
1. ❌ (we can spend more money to live longer)​. The extra benefit’s extra cost (extra cost per extra benefit)​
2. ❌ (eg new treatment costs an extra $30,000 and gives an extra year​ of life)​. Difference in cost / Difference in effectiveness. (30,000/1=30,000)
3. ❌ (just jargon)​. Incremental cost effectiveness ratio (ICER) = ΔC/ΔE​. The same calculation as in math, but we like the word “incremental"​.
4. ❌​. We can plot the ICER on the cost-effectiveness plane​.

❌y Analysis eg the QALY assesses two outcomes, ❌. Quality, ie QoL is usually scored with ‘perfect health’ = ❌ and death = ❌​. If a treatment gives 10 extra years of life at a quality of 0.5, the ❌ is 10*0.5 = 5.