The two-day Foundation course is designed for participants who are familiar with the basic principles of economic evaluation and who wish to build, interpret and appraise decision models. It is envisaged that participants will currently be undertaking economic evaluation within the pharmaceutical and medical device industries, consultancy, academia or the health service.

What are the learning objectives of the course?

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• consider the role of decision modelling in economic evaluation to guide decision making
• use the basic building blocks of decision analysis such as joint and conditional probabilities and expected values
• implement the principles of conceptual modelling as a way of planning a model
• understand the strengths and weaknesses of the decision tree model and build such a model in Excel
• understand the strengths and weaknesses of the Markov model and build such a model in Excel
• think critically about the structure of decision models in particular situations and apply these appropriately
• implement key generic analytic steps in decision analysis such as evidence identification and basic synthesis, sensitivity analysis and reporting results

What will the course cover?

The Foundation course will start with the policy context for decision modelling and move on to cover the use of decision trees to structure and frame an economic evaluation. This use of decision trees will be expanded to cover application to diagnostics with a particular focus on the value of diagnostic information. On the second day of the course, standard Markov models will be introduced as a more efficient way of modelling disease processes that evolve over time. The course will end with a session on conceptualising and planning a model, including the selection of the appropriate modelling form for the decision problem at hand.

Software and prerequisites

Participants would be expected to be familiar with economic evaluation, to the level of Drummond & colleagues’ “Methods for the economic evaluation of health care programmes” published by OUP and now in its third edition (2005). No decision analytic modelling experience will be assumed, however, exercises will be performed in the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet package and so a familiarity of basic manipulations in Excel is essential. The course will be ‘hands-on’, and participants will be expected to bring a laptop computer (and mouse) with Microsoft Excel™ for use throughout the course.

Accommodation

Accommodation is not included in the course fee, allowing participants to select their own hotel. There are recommendations for locations either near the course venue or Glasgow city centre provided in the confirmation letter that participants receive upon booking. 

Equality/Accessibility statement

We aim to ensure that people have equal access to public events. If you need alternative formats or other reasonable adjustments, please contact us on +44 (0)141 330 5009 or via email: ihw-hehta@glasgow.ac.uk with your request by close of business on 26th August 2016 so that arrangements, where possible, can be made. Due to our hilltop campus, limitations may be encountered.

Cancellation policy

To cancel your place and request a refund, please email ihw-hehta@glasgow.ac.uk. Please note that a refund of course fees less 10% administrative charge can only be issued if you cancel your place in writing at least one month prior to the course (26th August 2016). Substitutes can be made but please email new delegates' details to ihw-hehta@glasgow.ac.uk. Cancellations made less than one month before the course are non-refundable.