Health economics

Healthcare delivery has become a complex process in which everything is measured by its cost effectiveness. Some might think that economics has nothing to do with medical students, but being acquainted with some of its basics issues in health is essential for every medic. The following websites may help you to find your way through health economics.

The Office of Health Economics (www.ohe.org) provides independent research services, advice, and consultancy on policy implications and economic issues in the pharmaceutical, healthcare, and biotechnology areas. Its most useful aspect is www.oheschools.org, an electronic resource aimed at anyone wishing to understand the basic principles of healthcare economics. This e-source is split into five units, showing how economists have approached the problem of health care. You can download the entire text in pdf format. HEED (www.ohe-heed.com) is a database of cost effectiveness studies and economic evaluations of treatments and medical interventions. It requires a subscription, but you can access a full demonstration for free.

The website of the Institute of Health Economics (www.ihe.ca) has a good variety of publications such as newsletters, working papers, annual reports, and articles by the institute's researchers.

If you click on health economics on the World Health Organization's website (www.who.int/topics/health_economics/en), you will have access to two very important resources for anyone who is willing to find out a bit more about health economics anywhere. The first resource is the national health accounts (www.who.int/nha/en), which addresses four basic questions regarding health system resources over time and across countries: Where do resources come from? Where do they go? What kinds of services and goods do they purchase? Whom do they benefit?

The other important resource is WHO-CHOICE: CHOosing Interventions that are Cost Effective (www3.who.int/whosis/menu.cfm?path=evidence,cea&language=english). Using cost effectiveness analysis, it indicates which interventions provide the highest “value for money” and help choose programmes that maximise health for the available resources.

If you are pursuing a career in health economics, you should check the website of the International Health Economics Association (www.healtheconomics.org), which also has the option for student membership. It provides easy access to exclusive information: a members' directory, a database with jobs and conferences, calls for abstracts, books, and publications. You can check the long list of the association's supporters in your area for more activities.

Many universities all over the world have health economics departments, but that of the University of York has a unique and useful web page. You should go directly to the Health Economics Resource Centre at www.york.ac.uk/res/herc, which shows you options of formal training, seminars, European workshops, or even distant learning.

You can extend your web search on the subject by using www.healtheconomics.com, a one page website with classified links to a wide range of areas.

Competing interests: None declared.