This paper studies an identification problem that arises when clinicians seek to personalize patient care by predicting health outcomes conditional on observed patient covariates. Let y be an outcome of interest and let (x=k, w=j) be observed patient covariates. Suppose a clinician wants to...

This paper describes the application of a semiparametric approach, known as a varying coefficients model (Hastie and Tibshirani 1993), to implement a Oaxaca-Blinder type of decomposition in the presence of self-selection into treatment groups for a continuum of comparison groups. The flexibility...

There is a growing interest in cross-border medical care and its comparative advantages. In addition, medical care can be defined as a local assurance good. Little research is being carried out in this field. This paper discusses the individual considerations for medical treatment offered at...

This paper deals with the question how to model health effects after the cessation of a randomised controlled trial (RCT). Using clinical trial data on severe congestive heart failure patients we illustrate how survival beyond the cessation of a RCT can be predicted based on parametric survival...

This paper deals with the question how to model health effects after the cessation of a randomised controlled trial (RCT). Using clinical trial data on severe congestive heart failure patients we illustrate how survival beyond the cessation of a RCT can be predicted based on parametric survival...

When evaluating the impact of pollution, measurements from remote stations are often weighted by the inverse of distance raised to some nonnegative power (IDW). This is derived from Shepard's method of spatial interpolation (1968). The paper discusses the arbitrary character of the exponent of...

This paper is the first to conduct cost-effectiveness analyses of bariatric surgery comparing obese patients with obesity-related diseases to obese people without comorbidities across different BMI categories, using the meta-analysis results of surgery outcomes for our effectiveness inputs. We...

Recent international efforts by the Accelerated Access Initiative, the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative, the Global Fund, and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) among other focused on establishing competitive and transparent procurement processes for antiretrovirals (ARVs) purchases and on...

Economics deals with the allocation of scarce resources in a society with unlimited desires. When resources become scarce, people face difficult choices. This general concept holds true in the field of drug addiction treatment as well. Since drug use and its consequences are associated with...

Background: A number of recent findings imply that the value of a life saved, life-year saved or QALY saved varies depending on the characteristics of the life, life-year or QALY under consideration (Dolan et al, 2005). Despite the proliferation of such findings, budget allocations continue to...