CSIS

This is a review article of the role of modeling approaches to guide decision making in health care and other domains. The role of models to support recommendations on the cost-effective use of medical technologies and pharmaceuticals is controversial. At the heart of the controversy is the degree to which experimental or other empirical evidence should be required prior to model use. The authors argue that the controversy stems in part from a misconception that…

In this article the authors consider how benefit-cost analysis can be used retrospectively to promote understanding of the impacts after a policy is implemented. Serving as a brief primer, the authors propose that analysis can be useful for identifying needed reforms as well as in improving the conduct of future prospective analyses. The major challenges relate to estimating what would have occurred in the absence of the policy and separating the effects of the policy…

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE, or the Institute) provides guidance to the NHS in England on the clinical and cost effectiveness of selected new and established technologies. The Institute undertakes appraisals of health technologies at the request of the Department of Health. Guidance produced by the Institute on health technologies is also applied selectively in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The purpose of this document is to provide an overview of…