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ECON42750

Academic Year 2026/2027

Evaluation Methods for Health Economics (ECON42750)

Subject:
Economics
College:
Social Sciences & Law
School:
Economics
Level:
4 (Masters)
Credits:
5
Module Coordinator:
Dr James O'Mahony
Trimester:
Spring
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

The purpose of this module to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the fundamentals of health economic evaluation of healthcare interventions.

This module will describe the fundamental elements of health economic evaluation as applied in cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA). This includes the use of the quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) as a single metric of health gain with interpersonal comparability. The module will also cover the calculation of cost-effectiveness ratios and comparisons to cost-effectiveness thresholds. The module will consider the theoretical foundations of CEA and its use in practice in policy making.

While the course is primarily applied in nature in that it describes the CEA appraisal framework, it also presents the theoretical underpinning of health economic analysis. This draws on primarily on welfare theory but also includes some insights from behavioural economics.

This is not a heavily quantitative course. There is no significant statistical or econometric component. The emphasis is more on evidence generation, interpretation and presentation. There is also consideration of the extent to which health economic evidence is used in healthcare resource allocation.

The course includes a high level description of modelling methods applied in CEA. Although not technically demanding, this provides the basics for understanding simulation approaches commonly applied within the pharmaceutical industry in support of funding applications for drug reimbursement. Moreover, the description of resource allocation processes will be of interest to students considering a role within the pharmaceutical and related consulting sector.

There are no prerequisites for this module. It will likely be of interest to students with a prior interest in cost-benefit analysis and the application of economics to inform public policy.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

Students will be expected to:

To be able to describe the primary components of a standard cost-effectiveness analysis including cost-effectiveness ratios and the use of cost-effectiveness thresholds;

To be able to explain the rationale for conducting a cost-effectiveness analysis and the reasons why the application of cost-effectiveness analysis is contentious;

To combine technical understanding of CEA methods with insight regarding a pragmatic understanding of policy formulation to explain why the impact of CEA on healthcare services may appear modest;

To explain how cost-effectiveness analysis departs from conventional economic analysis;

The ability to present a critique of a published cost-effectiveness analysis, identifying points of strength and areas for improvement.

Indicative Module Content:

The lecture course follows this outline:

1. Introduction- Market Failure in Health; Healthcare expenditure; Rationale for HTA HEE. Types of HEA
2. Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) estimation, standard gamble and time trade off, QALYs and limitations including insensitivity
3. Costs and their estimation, the choice of perspective and discounting
4. Modelling approaches, CE planes, ICERs, net benefit and decision rules
5. Cost-effectiveness thresholds, theory and practice, implementation in Ireland
6. CEA processes in Ireland; threshold II: supply side vs demand side thresholds
7. Uncertainty analysis with CEA, one way sensitivity analysis, probability sensitivity analysis and expected value of information
8. Theoretical foundations of CEA the departure from conventional economic theory
9. Prioritisation within policy frameworks: specific thresholds, The UK Cancer Drugs Fund, QALY weighting, discounting adjustments, shortfall mechanisms
10. Equity weighting in CEA: applying the Cookson framework: In class presentations of critical appraisal of a published CEA
11. Application of CEA to cancer screening: common errors in strategy selection, comparison and cost-effectiveness estimate reporting

The United Nations identified seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as core to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and UCD contributes in general to SDG 4 Quality Education. Further SDGs explored within this module if relevant are listed below. A scale of 1 - 5 indicates the extent to which the SDG is covered.


 

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Autonomous Student Learning

76
Lectures

24
Total

100

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Teaching on this course employs conventional lectures from slide decks with positive encouragement of class discussion throughout the lectures. Lectures will be supplemented with reading list comprising textbook chapters and academic papers, both of core and optional readings. The teaching style on this course aims to be relaxed and discursive. Teaching at the graduate level generally offers better opportunities for student engagement and debate.

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) is of growing concern in education. UCD is monitoring developments closely but does not yet have a formal policy. The use of AI to support learning in this module is permitted and students are encouraged to learn how such tools can be used.

The main form of examination is a written exam at the end of term and AI tools have no direct bearing on this. Students also have to prepare a class presentation. AI has some relevance to the research and material development for this presentation. AI tools are not used to generate text on concepts in this presentation, but they AI tools can be used to search for evidence, clarify topics and proof-read text. If an AI tool is used, it must be cited and the form of its use clearly stated. If you have any questions about appropriate use of AI, please contact a lecturer first before submitting or presenting work.

Students can use AI to ask answer questions they may have about course material. Student should, however, be mindful of the limits of AI tools in providing useful answers in all circumstances and should be aware of the relevance of framing questions carefully in order to elicit sensible answers.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations
Learning Recommendations:

There are no prequistes for this course. The course is pitched to be accessible and most graduate students should be very comfortable with the material and there are no significant aspects of prior knowledge that are necessary. Having familiarity with economic methods in general and some understanding welfare economics in particular is an advantage but definitely not a requirement.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Individual Project: Students are required to give a 15 minute presentation in which they critically appraise a published cost-effectiveness analysis. Week 11 Standard conversion grade scale 40% No
30
 No
Exam (In-person): Standard 2 hour, closed book exam at the end of the semester. Questions will reflect the full content of the whole course. Not optional questions: students are suggested to attempt the whole paper. End of trimester
Duration:
2 hr(s)
 Alternative linear conversion grade scale 40% No
70
 No

Carry forward of passed components
No
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Summer No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Not yet recorded.

This course is not dependent on any specific course textbook. However, the following text by Drummond et al will be useful to students throughout the course.

Drummond, M.F., Sculpher, M.J., Claxton, K., Stoddart, G.L. and Torrance, G.W., 2015. Methods for the economic evaluation of health care programmes. Oxford University Press.

References to additional reading resources, including other textbooks and academic papers, are given within the lecture notes.

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Spring Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32 Thurs 09:00 - 10:50
Spring Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Thurs 09:00 - 10:50
Spring Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 33 Thurs 11:00 - 12:50
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