- theory and concepts
- decision theory
- decision psychology
- probability/bayes
- preferences/values
- priority setting/ethics
- methods and metrics
- costing methods
- health outcomes
- evidence synthesis
- value of information
- microsimulation
- approaches and applications
- decision analysis
- risk analysis
- benefit-cost analysis
- cost-effectiveness analysis
- technology assessment
- operations research
- climate/environment
- economics/finance
- military/defense
Resources Repository
-
ReviewPublication 2016Remembering Howard Raiffa
Howard Raiffa (1924-2016) had a profound influence on all aspects of the decision sciences and on …
Howard Raiffa (1924-2016) had a profound influence on all aspects of the decision sciences and on the fields of systems analysis and operations research. He guided the introduction of the decision sciences into numerous fields such as business, medicine, public health, the environmental sciences, and law, and was instrumental in building world-recognized institutions such as the Kennedy School at Harvard and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis near Vienna, Austria. This article is a thoughtful tribute by…
Preferences/Values | Operations Research | Decision Theory | Decision Analysis | Military/Defense | Economics/Finance | Business/Industry | Health/Medicine | North America -
ReviewPublication 2016Strengthening Cost-Effectiveness Analysis for Public Health Policy
Many important opportunities to improve health lie outside the health sector and involve improving the …
Many important opportunities to improve health lie outside the health sector and involve improving the conditions in which we live and work: safe design and maintenance of roads, bridges, train tracks, and airports; control of environmental pollutants; occupational safety; healthy buildings; a safe and healthy food supply; safe manufacture of consumer products; a healthy social environment; and others. Faced with the overwhelming array of possibilities, U.S. decision makers need help identifying those that can contribute the…
Priority Setting/Ethics | Preferences/Values | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Costing Methods | Climate/Environment | Economics/Finance | Social Determinants | Environmental Health | Health Systems | Policy/Regulation | Food/Agriculture | Health/Medicine | North America -
Working PaperPublication 2015Benefit-Cost Analysis and the Cities
This paper provides a short introduction to the use of benefit-cost analysis to assess interventions …
This paper provides a short introduction to the use of benefit-cost analysis to assess interventions undertaken at the city or municipal level. It introduces the concepts that underlie the conduct of benefit-cost analysis, describes the major analytic components, and discusses how to tailor the analysis to the characteristics of the policy and the resources available. It concludes with a list of references for those interested in learning more.
Priority Setting/Ethics | Preferences/Values | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Decision Analysis | Climate/Environment | Economics/Finance | Social Determinants | Environmental Health | Policy/Regulation | Culture/Society | Government/Law | North America | Critical Thinking/Analysis -
ArticlePublication 2015Extended Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Treatment and Prevention of Diarrhoea in Ethiopia
This article, published in BMJ Open, aims to illustrate the size and distribution of benefits …
This article, published in BMJ Open, aims to illustrate the size and distribution of benefits due to the treatment and prevention of diarrhoea (i.e., rotavirus vaccination) in Ethiopia. The authors use an economic model to examine the impacts of universal public finance (UPF) of diarrhoeal treatment alone, as opposed to diarrhoeal treatment along with rotavirus vaccination using extended cost-effectiveness analysis (ECEA). The study finds that diarrhoeal treatment paired with rotavirus vaccination is more cost effective…
Priority Setting/Ethics | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Costing Methods | Health Outcomes | Climate/Environment | Economics/Finance | Infectious Diseases | Child/Nutrition | Social Determinants | Environmental Health | Health Systems | Health/Medicine | Sub-Saharan Africa -
ArticlePublication 2015Broader Economic Impact of Vaccination: Reviewing and Appraising the Strength of Evidence
Economic evaluations of public health programs such as immunization often consider only direct health benefits and …
Economic evaluations of public health programs such as immunization often consider only direct health benefits and medical cost savings. Evidence linking immunization to important benefits in indicators such as childhood development, household behavior, and other macro-economic data are unclear. A conceptual framework of the pathways between immunization and these broader economic benefits was developed through expert consultation. The authors obtained articles from previous reviews, snowballing, and expert consultation, and associated them with one of the pathways and assessed them using modified Grading…
Evidence Synthesis | Priority Setting/Ethics | Preferences/Values | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Costing Methods | Economics/Finance | Infectious Diseases | Social Determinants | Education/Labor | Health/Medicine -
ReviewPublication 2001Modeling for Health Care and Other Policy Decisions: Uses, Roles and Validity
This is a review article of the role of modeling approaches to guide decision making …
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…
Evidence Synthesis | Priority Setting/Ethics | Technology Assessment | Climate/Environment | Economics/Finance | Mathematical Models | Environmental Health | Health Systems | Policy/Regulation | Business/Industry | Energy/Engineering | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | North America -
ReviewPublication 1982Decision Analysis: An Overview
This article, written for the non-decision analyst, describes what decision analysis is, what it can …
This article, written for the non-decision analyst, describes what decision analysis is, what it can and cannot do, why one should care to do this, and how one does it. Keeney describes decision analysis as "a formalization of common sense for decision problems which are too complex for informal use of common sense." He provides a more technical definition also, describing decision analysis as "a philosophy, articulated by a set of logical axioms, and a methodology…
Preferences/Values | Decision Theory | Decision Analysis | Military/Defense | Economics/Finance | Policy/Regulation | Business/Industry | Energy/Engineering | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology -
Working PaperPublication 2018Valuing Nonfatal Health Risk Reductions
This paper explores approaches for valuing nonfatal risk reductions associated with policy choices in low- …
This paper explores approaches for valuing nonfatal risk reductions associated with policy choices in low- and middle-income countries. The approach for valuation ideally would be based on estimates of individuals’ willingness to pay for changes in their own risks. However, high quality valuation research is not available for many nonfatal conditions even in high-income settings. Typically, two approaches are used either alone or in combination as rough proxies. The first involves applying an estimate of…
Priority Setting/Ethics | Preferences/Values | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Decision Analysis | Health Outcomes | Economics/Finance | Social Determinants | Policy/Regulation | Health/Medicine | Global | Critical Thinking/Analysis -
ArticlePublication 2017Reduced Burden of Childhood Diarrheal Diseases through Increased Access to Water and Sanitation in India: Modeling Analysis
This analysis estimates the health and economic benefits of scaling up the coverage of piped …
This analysis estimates the health and economic benefits of scaling up the coverage of piped water and improved sanitation to a near-universal 95% level among Indian households. The authors used an agent-based microsimulation platform, IndiaSim, to model disease progression and individual healthcare-seeking behavior in India, and use ECEA to estimate health and economic outcomes over time. They found that scaling up access to piped water and improved sanitation could avert 43,352 diarrheal episodes and 68…
Priority Setting/Ethics | Microsimulation | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Costing Methods | Health Outcomes | Economics/Finance | Child/Nutrition | Social Determinants | Environmental Health | Energy/Engineering | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | Asia & Pacific