Latest News

The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (impact factor [2019] 2.89, Editor Paul B. Tchounwou) recently published a commentary entitled ‘Reflections on the Importance of Cost of Illness Analysis in Rare Diseases: A Proposal’. HCD Economics are encouraged that the paper seeks to show how cost or burden of illness studies informs effective decision making on the allocation of healthcare resources towards the management of rare diseases. This finding is a core belief for HCD Economics and underwrites our research philosophy in partnership with patient advocates and the University of Chester.

‘There are going to be some bruises and bleeds along the way, but this is a manageable disorder with the right treatment plan’

Data to be drawn from a descriptive, retrospective, cross sectional burden of illness study design developed by HCD Economics and University of Chester A peer-review manuscript published on 7th January 2021, in the journal ‘Expert Review of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research’ (impact factor 2.032), reports on the study rationale and protocol of the PICTURE study. PFIC Burden of Illness: Quantifying the global socio-economic burden The PICTURE study will employ a study design developed by HCD Economics and University of Chester in 2014. Founded on the principle of Public and Patient Involvement and Engagement (PPIE), the methodology has generated real-world evidence that can inform and support advocacy for clinical implementation of new therapies including rare diseases.

Jamie O’Hara joined the panel of yesterday’s collaborative webinar (24th Mach 2021), entitled ‘Economic Modelling in Rare Diseases’. The panel involved three leading academic centres, University of Leicester, York and Sheffield, digital research organisation Vitaccess, and leading health economic organisations Source Health Economics and HCD Economics. Jamie participated alongside panellists; Professor Keith Abrams, Professor John Brazier, Dr Jill Carlton, Josie Godfrey, Dr Mark Larkin and Juliet Mumby-Croft.

Combining our commitment to the rare disease community with our established leadership in patient and public engagement led research (PPIE), HCD Economics is announcing a 2021 commitment to identify and undertake research intended to build a repository of real-world evidence (RWE) that can be applied to NMD community evidence-based advocacy initiatives and other programmes. The commitment is to invest and develop partnerships for a RWE programme to support access for NMD patients to new and emerging novel therapies in the treatment and management of NMD.

The coreNASH: Multi- stakeholder Consensus on Core Outcomes for Decision Making About Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis Treatment has announced publication of the work of the coreNASH panel. Leonardo Ruiz-Casas, Principal Health Economist, at HCD Economics is a member of the panel. The paper is published in the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease Journal, Hepatology Communications. The paper is available now.

A new study has just been published in the Human Resources for Health Journal. Author and HCD Economics colleague, Dr. Idaira Rodriguez Santana, undertook the research as a PhD student studying at the UK Centre for Health Economics at University of York. The study concludes that a reform intended to enhance the professional and career prospects of Spanish medical students on graduation with respect to international graduates is flawed. The results identified that the reform led to a widening of the gender gap among Spanish medical specialists. Specifically the reform had the unintended consequence of reducing the probability of Spanish female doctors accessing highly demanded specialities thus exacerbating the gender gap.

Even before the emergence of COVID-19, the significance of real world data to European health policy and programmes was growing – notably in the domain of patient-reported outcomes and their integration by healthcare decision makers into resource allocation decision making, typically undertaken by Health Technology Assessment agencies across Europe.