Richard Milne trained in physics/maths, physiology/ pharmacology, neuroscience and health economics in NZ and the USA. He has been researching the epidemiology and economics of healthcare interventions since 1997. Richard has published over 50 peer-reviewed articles in physics, physiology, pharmacology, medical statistics, ethics and health economics and is an Advisory Board member on the leading peer-reviewed Journal PharmacoEconomics, of which he was the founding Editor. He was also the founding President of the NZ chapter of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics & Outcomes Research.

Economic evaluation is the process of linking costs to outcomes in order to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of interventions compared to other interventions within the same budget. Over the last 30 years, economic evaluation has become a sophisticated industry, especially in Europe and the USA. It is also widely used in Asian countries and in Latin America, and is performed by academics, consultancy groups, health care funding agencies such as PHARMAC, and increasingly by the health insurance industry and healthcare providers including District Health Boards in NZ.

This presentation will outline the role of economic evaluation in informing the development, funding and outcome assessment of new products including pharmaceuticals, caccines and medical devices.