Topic

Evaluation types and frameworks

The different forms of economic evaluation and the choices that frame any analysis, such as the time horizon. Full evaluations compare both the costs and the consequences of at least two alternatives; partial evaluations look at only part of that picture.

Concepts in this topic

• Cost-Consequence AnalysisCost-consequence analysis sets out the costs and each separate outcome of healthcare options side by side, without combining them into one result.
• Cost-Minimisation AnalysisCost-minimisation analysis compares only the costs of healthcare options, and is valid only when evidence shows their health outcomes are equivalent.
• Decision ProblemA decision problem is the choice an economic evaluation or model must inform, stated as population, options compared, outcomes, costs and decision maker.
• Economic EvaluationEconomic evaluation, often called health economic evaluation, compares the costs and outcomes of healthcare options to judge which offers the best value.
• Evidence AdaptationEvidence adaptation is modifying an economic evaluation from one country or setting so that it reflects another setting's costs, practice and population.
• Full Economic EvaluationAn economic evaluation comparing two or more alternatives in terms of both costs and consequences, unlike a partial evaluation examining costs or outcomes alone.
• InterventionAn intervention is any test, treatment, programme, strategy or policy aimed at health or care; HTA compares its costs and effects with alternatives.
• Partial Economic EvaluationA study examining either the costs or the outcomes of an intervention, or both without comparison to an alternative, short of a full economic evaluation.
• PerspectivePerspective in health economic evaluation is the viewpoint, such as the health system, payer or society, that decides which costs and outcomes are counted.
• PopulationPopulation, in health economic evaluation, is the group of people a decision or analysis concerns, defined by condition, characteristics and care pathway.
• Societal PerspectiveThe societal perspective is an economic evaluation viewpoint that counts all costs and outcomes, whoever bears them, including productivity and carer time.
• Time HorizonThe span of time over which an economic evaluation captures relevant differences in costs and outcomes among the options being compared.