An introduction to health economics

The use of economics is not restricted to the financial sector and is becoming more common in other areas, including within the health sector. Over the past few decades, there has been a dramatic rise in the application of health economics principles for:

• allocating health resources
• research into consumer behaviours
• optimising health gain within society.

In psychiatry, health economic analyses are used to assess the burden of diseases, the direct and indirect impact of mental illness on society, and the cost-effectiveness of psychiatric interventions. This module provides an overview of key concepts used in health economics and how the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) uses these concepts while assessing new medications or other health technologies for the NHS.

Learning objectives

By the end of this module, you should be able to:

• recognise key economic concepts
• demonstrate a basic understanding of economic evaluations
• identify how NICE assesses health interventions for the NHS
• understand health economy evaluations.

Availability

This module is available as part of a CPD eLearning subscription.