title: Economic evaluation in support of national health policy: the case of The Netherlands.
abstract: This article focuses on economic evaluation as an instrument to support national health policy in the Netherlands. National health policy concerns decision-making on which technologies may enter the health care market, which health care services are included in the package of health care benefits and under what conditions, and what the geographical distribution of medical services and facilities should be. Regarding the latter two issues in particular, the actual and potential role of economic evaluation in health policy is discussed. From the Dutch experience we can learn that a close cooperation between researchers and policy-makers helps to enlarge the impact of economic appraisal on policy-making and that incorporation of the right (financial) incentives is vital to the use of economic appraisal in health care decision-making.
authors.affiliation: Erasmus University Rotterdam, Institute for Medical Technology Assessment, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Elsinga
authors.forename: F F
authors.initials: FF
authors.lastname: Rutten
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003363:Cost Control / Q000639:trends; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis / Q000639:trends; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D015276:Health Care Rationing / Q000191:economics; D006291:Health Policy / Q000191:economics*; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009313:National Health Programs / Q000191:economics*; D009426:Netherlands; D011322:Primary Prevention / Q000191:economics; D011788:Quality of Life; D013673:Technology Assessment, Biomedical / Q000191:economics