How to make sense of health economics

While economics is the main ingredient in most healthcare decisions today, health economics still has many pharmacologists, clinicians, physicians and marketing personnel left confused and appalled that quality of life is equated with money. This is primarily because the audience is fearful of the sheer science behind health economics. And so the need to understand health economics is essential for healthcare professionals.

Economic evaluation in healthcare is rapidly evolving and, as a consequence, so is the associated literature and terminology. The problem that health economists face is that communicating the economics of healthcare is often lost in science and the message is obscured. Ironically, the end result of health economics research is often not intended for the health economist but for payers, drug representatives and healthcare providers.

The onus is on health economists to communicate their messages well. But equally important as the message is the way the messages should be communicated to their specific audience because audiences respond differently to different channels and methods.

Whether it’s reimbursement submissions, value dossiers or internal papers and presentations, communicating health economics needs to be effective, concise and in a form that the audience can understand and digest. That doesn’t mean to say it shouldn’t be attractive, interactive and user-friendly.