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Abstract

The pharmaceutical industry offers the pharmacist a unique practice alternative in the area of health economics research (HER). This article will briefly describe why HER is important, the key elements involved, and a description of how the pharmacist can play a role in developing HER. HER is a form of technology assessment and has been developed due to needs brought about by changes in the financial aspect of health care. It involves several points of concentration including the identification of the economic impact of therapeutic interventions, the separation of costs of a disease from the costs of therapy, determination of the economic impact of side effects, assessment of therapy's impact on patients' quality of life, and differentiation of costs from charges. The most often used economic tools in HER are cost effectiveness (CEA), cost benefit (CBA), and cost utility (CUA) analyses.

Quality of life (QofL) considerations are a component of HER. They are important from the perspectives of the clinician as well as the patient's and often the insurance carrier, the managed health care organization, or the patient's employer. QofL measurements are made with several types of instruments including general health rating scales or batteries of tests or through health state utilities. HER data may be collected either prospectively or observationally. Quality-of-life research data may only be collected prospectively.

HER crosses the boundaries of several sciences resulting in a multidisciplinary approach to technology assessment using principles from therapeutics, epidemiology, accounting, finance, the decision sciences, and the economic impact of new and existing technology. The concerns of drug decision makers with the issues of therapeutic outcomes, quality of care, impact on the pharmacy budget, the possibility of reducing or increasing other costs within the institution and the manufacturers' contractual terms, will increase. As a result, the necessity for HER is obvious.

HER, as it relates to therapeutics, is in its developmental stages; it will, however, continue to evolve. The pharmacist can play a role and make significant contributions in the development of HER to determine the mechanics, assumptions and techniques of this research area. The pharmacist's background easily creates a contributing role within HER as a result of the diverse application of specialized training.

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Health Economics Research: An Emerging Pharmacy Practice Discipline

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