This 3-day course will be online and will comprise a mix of live and pre-recorded lecture material, interspersed with practical sessions. Attendees should allow approximately 6 hours for each of the three days of the course.

By the end of the course participants should be able to:

1. understand the rationale for measuring cost-effectiveness within the health and care sectors;
2. distinguish between different forms of economic evaluation and, in a given context, give an explanation as to which approach should be used;
3. explain the techniques used to measure and value costs and benefits (including QALYs and capability measures) in an economic evaluation;
4. understand the basic methods of model-based economic evaluation;
5. interpret the results of an economic evaluation;
6. critically appraise published economic evaluations; and
7. understand how economic evaluation influences local and national decision-making in England.

The course intended for public health, NHS and social care professionals and researchers who are, or will be, involved in research projects that evaluate the cost-effectiveness of health and care. The course will also be useful for professionals who would like a better understanding of the quality of published economic evaluations and how they feed into local and national decision making.

No previous experience or knowledge of economics is required. As Microsoft Excel will be used for practical sessions, some experience of using Excel would be helpful.

The course contains lectures as well as practical sessions that provide a hands-on introduction to economic evaluation in healthcare. There will be opportunities for participants to appraise published economic evaluations and discuss their own planned and ongoing economic evaluation research topics.

The topics covered include:

1. Why do we need economic evaluation of health care interventions and what are the theories that inform evaluation?
2. Key concepts in using health and care resources efficiently.
3. Identification, measurement and valuation of resource use to create costs.
4. Identification, measurement and valuation of health benefits and benefits beyond health, including the use of quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and capability measures.
5. Presenting and interpreting the results of economic evaluations.
6. Applying decision analysis and Markov models in economic evaluation.
7. Critically appraising the quality of published economic evaluations.
8. Translating economic evidence into health policy.

Please ensure you meet the following prerequisites before booking: