title: The preliminary economic evaluation of health technologies for the prioritization of health technology assessments. A discussion.
abstract: This paper critically evaluates methods for the preliminary economic evaluation of health technologies and the prioritization of health technology assessment projects. It reports on the literature, and considers methods currently employed and the purposes of preliminary appraisal. It concludes that a preliminary economic appraisal needs to be applied to the two main stages of the prioritization process; to have transparent criteria; to allow for an appropriate range of potential outcomes; to be practicable, flexible, and efficient; and to be relevant to the assessment of different research projects.
authors.affiliation: University of Hertfordshire.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Harper
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Townsend
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Buxton
mesh_terms: D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D006292:Health Priorities; D013677:Medical Laboratory Science / Q000191:economics; D012106:Research; D013673:Technology Assessment, Biomedical / Q000191:economics*