Title: Advanced Topics in Health Economic Evaluation Methods
Keywords: Resource management
Measuring health status
Health economics
Country: Sweden
Institution: Sweden - Department of Epidemiology and Global Health, Umeå University
Course coordinator: Fredrik Norström
Date start: 2023-12-01
Date end: 2024-01-12
About duration and dates: A 4-week course that runs over a 6-week period with a break during the festive season.
Classification: advanced optional
Mode of delivery: Face to face
Course location:
Epidemiology and Global Health
Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine
Umeå University
Sweden
ECTS credit points: 7.5 ECTS credits
SIT: 200 SIT’s
Interactive lectures 32 SIT’s
Computer exercises 8 SIT’s
Seminars 16 SIT’s
Written exam 6 SIT’s
Self-study hours 138 SIT’s
Language: English
Description: At the end of the course the students should be able to:
● Critically review modelling approaches for cost-effectiveness, and analyze a given health intervention, in order to apply the most appropriate modelling approach when studying the cost-effectiveness of the intervention
● Critically review and analyze the strengths and weaknesses of health economic evaluations using modelling techniques published in scientific journals
● Independently identify a health economic problem suitable for an evaluation and make a plan for the evaluation specifying the model to be used
● Assess evaluation plans made by other students
Assessment Procedures: The course comprises two assessment activities/components:

1. An individual home assignment where students calculate incremental cost-effectiveness ratios in a health economic model (evaluation plan). The models are presented and discussed in a seminar. The grading scale is Fail or Pass.
2.A 6 hours open book examination. The grading scale is Fail, Pass or Pass with distinction. The grade Pass requires 50% correct answers and the grade Pass with distinction requires 80% correct answers.

If a student receives the grade Fail on the home assignment, the student is requiredto complement the assessment within the timeline decided by the examiner.

Regarding the examination, a same format resit option is available within 2 months and a third resit option is available at the end of the spring term. Grades for the resit examinations are not capped.

In order to be awarded the grade Pass for an entire module it is required that both the home assignment and the examination are awarded the grade Pass. In order to be awarded the grade Pass with distinction for the course it is required that the written examination is awarded the grade Pass with distinction.

Grades and feedback are made available within 15 working days after the examination.

The ECTS Grading Table is used at Umeå University. For more information, see hhtps://www.umu.se/en/education/study-system/
Content: ● Decision modelling for health interventions with a special focus on Markov models.
● Uncertainty in decision modelling when taking into account information from many sources.
● Critical evaluation of strengths and weaknesses of health economic evaluation in scientific journals
● Costing and discounting, the treatment of productivity costs, and the possibility of ageism in standard health economic evaluation.
● Construction of plans for health economic modelling through use of different sources and different techniques.
● Assessment of health economic evaluation plans.
Methods: The teaching consists of interactive lectures, computer exercises, seminars, and self-study hours. Students are encouraged to read relevant course literature before lectures.

During the self-study time students work in groups of 4-5 students and at lectures students present and discuss solutions to exercises. Further, completing the individual assignment of modelling is time consuming and requires many self-study hours.
Prerequisites: The requirements are having previously 120 ECTS, of which a minimum of 30 ECTS are within one of the following: health sciences, environmental health, or social sciences. The applicant must also have a passing grade from a basic course in health economic evaluation models of 5 ECTS.

Students must have their own laptop.

Proficiency in English equal to Swedish upper secondary education B/6. IELT - An overall score of 6.5 and no section below 5.5. TOEFL – Score of 20 (scale 0-30) in written test, total score of 90.
For more information see:
https://www.universityadmissions.se/en/entry-requirements/english-language-requirements/
Attendance: Maximum number of students is 40. Number of tropEd students is not limited.
Selection: Students in the master programmes in public health at Umeå University have guaranteed admission to this course. In addition to those, students (among them tropEd students) applying for the course as a single subject course may be accepted (up to 40 students). The selection process for single subjects’ students is based on merit rating from previous university studies.
Fees: 1) There are no application and tuition fees for students who are citizens of countries within the European Economic Area (EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway) or of Switzerland.

2) Students who are not citizens of a country covered by the EEA agreement or of Switzerland at the time they apply for studies must pay an application fee of 900 SEK to the university.

Those in 2) above who are admitted and start studying at the university must pay tuition fees. The present fee 2023 for this course is 18550 SEK.
Scholarships: There are no scholarships available for this course.
Major changes since initial accreditation: Since accreditation, there has been one semester (2020) when the course has been given online and the circumstances were different regarding many issues. However , the last two times (2021 and 2022), the course was given face to face.
Student evaluation: The students consider the computer exercises, the home assignment, and the Markov modelling to be useful aspects of the course. Some found it challenging to have both a home assignment and an exam. In conclusion, the students are overall happy with the content and based on the course evaluations, as well as the feedback during the course, there is no obvious change that is expected at the moment.
Lessons learned: The main importance is to make students aware of what is expected from them regarding the home assignment.
tropEd accreditation: Accredited in October 2018, in Berlin. Re-accredited in March 2023. This accreditation is valid until March 2028.
Email Address: fredrik.norstrom@umu.se
Date Of Record Creation: 2018-10-31 11:39:12 (W3C-DTF)
Date Of Record Release: 2018-10-31 15:55:01 (W3C-DTF)
Date Record Checked: 2018-10-31 (W3C-DTF)
Date Last Modified: 2023-03-10 13:46:51 (W3C-DTF)