Two important health economics projects are currently under way in the methodology platform:
The development of a core economic outcome set for use in future economic evaluations of asthma interventions. Such an outcome set would greatly facilitate comparison and pooling of future study data, ultimately to make more reliable decisions about what care to provide. The health economics group have started this project with a systematic review to inform what the core outcomes could be.
The development of an economic model that maps asthma costs and outcomes for the whole pathway of care, including inputs provided outside the NHS (e.g. by schools or families). This could be an invaluable tool for policy makers and care planners, but it is an unusual approach and challenging in terms of the data needed so the starting point is a feasibility study to check whether it is even possible. The team are currently writing a grant application to seek external funding for the feasibility study.
To find out more, visit the UK Methodology Service on Asthma Trials page.