It has been suggested by a number of economists that decisions about how to allocate scarce health care resources should be informed by the cost per quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) of the different alternatives. One of the criticisms of the QALY approach is that it is based on the...

The numbers of quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) gained are increasingly being used to represent the gains in individual utility from treatment. This requires that the value of a health improvement to an individual is a simple product of gains in quality of life and length of life. The article...

Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is a recognised as the economic evaluation technique that accords most with the underlying principles of standard welfare economic theory. However, due to problems associated with the technique, economists evaluating resources allocation decisions in health care have...

Objectives To describe the views of health care decision-makers and providers operating in the UK National Health Service (NHS) concerning the concepts of cost-effectiveness, equity and access through a series of attitudinal questions; to evaluate the preferences of health care providers in...

An important consideration when establishing priorities in health care is the likely effect that alternative allocations will have on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of the relevant population. This chapter considers some of the important issues surrounding the description and...

An important consideration when establishing priorities in healthcare is the likely effect that alternative allocations will have on the health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) of the relevant population. This paper considers some of the important issues and controversies surrounding the...