title: Revolution then evolution: the advance of health economic evaluation in Australia.
abstract: All governments face immense challenges in providing affordable healthcare for their citizens, and the diffusion of novel health technologies is a key driver of growth in expenditure for many. Although important methodological and process variations exist around the world, health economic evaluation is increasingly seen as an important tool to support decision-making around the introduction of new health technologies, interventions and programmes in countries of varying stages of economic development. In Australia, the assessment of the comparative cost-effectiveness of new medicines proposed for subsidy under the country's national drug subsidy programme, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, was introduced in the late 1980s and became mandatory in 1993, making Australia the first country to introduce such a requirement nationally. Since then the use of health economic evaluation has expanded and been applied to support decision-making across a broader range of health technologies, as well as to programmes in public health.
authors.affiliation: LWC Health Pty Ltd, Canberra, Australia; Department of Health Policy, George Washington University, Washington DC. Electronic address: ruth.lopert@lwchealth.org.
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lopert
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Economics Research and Evaluation, University of Technology, Sydney and Chair, Economics Subcommittee, Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee.
authors.forename: Rosalie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Viney
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D020811:Biomedical Technology / Q000191:economics* / Q000639:trends*; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis / Q000191:economics* / Q000639:trends*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003659:Decision Making, Organizational; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000191:economics* / Q000639:trends*; D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D016527:Drug Costs / Q000639:trends*; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000191:economics / Q000639:trends; D005544:Forecasting; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D007356:Insurance, Pharmaceutical Services / Q000191:economics / Q000639:trends; D018803:Models, Economic; D009313:National Health Programs / Q000191:economics* / Q000639:trends*; D013673:Technology Assessment, Biomedical / Q000191:economics / Q000639:trends
keywords: Gesundheitstechnologiebewertung; Gesundheitsökonomie; Health economic evaluation; Kosten-Nutzen-Bewertung; evidence-based medicine; evidenzbasierte Medizin; health technology assessment; value for money; value-based assessment; wertorientierte Beurteilung