Resources Repository
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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 Analysis | Health/Medicine | Business/Industry | Economics/Finance | Decision Theory | Military/Defense | North America -
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…
Preferences/Values | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Decision Analysis | Health/Medicine | Economics/Finance | Priority Setting/Ethics | Health Outcomes | Social Determinants | Policy/Regulation | Global | Critical Thinking/Analysis -
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…
Technology Assessment | Health/Medicine | Climate/Environment | Business/Industry | Economics/Finance | Priority Setting/Ethics | Evidence Synthesis | Mathematical Models | Environmental Health | Health Systems | Policy/Regulation | Energy/Engineering | Government/Law | 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 Analysis | Health/Medicine | Business/Industry | Economics/Finance | Science/Technology | Decision Theory | Policy/Regulation | Energy/Engineering | Government/Law | Military/Defense -
ReviewPublication 2017Patients' Preferences in Cancer Treatment: Review of Discrete Choice Experiments
This study aimed to systematically review discrete choice experiments (DCEs) about patients’ preferences for cancer …
This study aimed to systematically review discrete choice experiments (DCEs) about patients’ preferences for cancer treatment and assessed the relative importance of outcome, process and cost attributes. A systematic literature review was conducted using PubMed and EMBASE to identify all DCEs investigating patients’ preferences for cancer treatment between January 2010 and April 2016. Attributes were classified into outcome, process and cost attributes, and their relative importance was assessed. A total of 28 DCEs were identified.…
Preferences/Values | Decision Analysis | Health/Medicine | Economics/Finance | Health Outcomes | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Chronic Disease/Risk | Health Systems | North America | Europe -
ReviewPublication 2017Quality of Life as an Outcome of Opioid Use Disorder Treatment
The recent opioid epidemic has prompted renewed interest in opioid use disorder treatment, but there …
The recent opioid epidemic has prompted renewed interest in opioid use disorder treatment, but there is little evidence regarding health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) outcomes in treatment programs. Measuring HRQoL represents an opportunity to consider outcomes of opioid use disorder treatment that are more patient-centered and more relevant to overall health than abstinence alone. This systematic literature review explores the extent to which the collection of HRQoL by opioid treatment programs is documented in the treatment program literature.…
Preferences/Values | Health/Medicine | Economics/Finance | Health Outcomes | Evidence Synthesis | Chronic Disease/Risk | Mental Health | Social Determinants | Health Systems -
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…
Preferences/Values | Health/Medicine | Climate/Environment | Economics/Finance | Priority Setting/Ethics | Costing Methods | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Social Determinants | Environmental Health | Health Systems | Policy/Regulation | Food/Agriculture | 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.
Preferences/Values | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Decision Analysis | Climate/Environment | Economics/Finance | Priority Setting/Ethics | Social Determinants | Environmental Health | Policy/Regulation | Culture/Society | Government/Law | North America | Critical Thinking/Analysis -
ReviewPublication 2014Valuing Vaccination
Vaccination has led to remarkable health gains over the last century. However, large coverage gaps …
Vaccination has led to remarkable health gains over the last century. However, large coverage gaps remain, which will require significant financial resources and political will to address. In recent years, a compelling line of inquiry has established the economic benefits of health, at both the individual and aggregate levels. Most existing economic evaluations of particular health interventions fail to account for this new research, leading to potentially sizable undervaluation of those interventions. In line with…
Preferences/Values | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Health/Medicine | Economics/Finance | Priority Setting/Ethics | Costing Methods | Infectious Diseases | Health Systems | Global