Economic Evaluations

8 Evaluation of Psychoactive Substance Use Disorder Treatment WHO/MSD/MSB 00.2i Why do an economic evaluation? Using any resource for the treatment of PSU disorders means the opportunity to use that resource for something else is lost. Therefore, cost-effectiveness (or "value" for money spent on treatment services) is of central concern in most health care and government systems. Economic evaluation is one of the tools available to help choose wisely from a range of alternatives and implement efficient re- sources. In general, economists prefer the widest possible societal perspective: general questions about the use of scarce resources and societal well-being. However, in certain cases, policy makers may wish to know the answers to narrower questions, for example, restricting the perspective to health outcomes and health care expenditure, or restricting it to a specific area, for example, the effects on crime and the criminal justice system. Economic evaluation is one of the tools available to help choose wisely from a range of alternatives and implement efficient resources. Full economic evaluations are rarely completed. One reason is that economic evaluations are resource intensive and typically require a high level of research expertise. It is important, prior to undertaking this type of study, to determine whether a full economic evaluation is warranted or required. For some research questions, answers can be addressed through a cost evaluation (Workbook 5), which is generally less intensive to complete. Full economic evaluations should only be undertaken after an initial analysis to gauge the usefulness of the study. Prospective economic analyses are best undertaken alongside other evaluations, particularly outcome studies (Workbook 7). In themselves, economic components of research need not be excessively expensive. There is, however, great merit in examining the economic design from the beginning of a research planning process as results may affect the overall design of the study as well as the detail of data collection.download