Using Economic Evaluation to Hasten Health Equity

Maria Isabel Roldós; Nancy Breen

doi:10.1089/heq.2021.0010

Using Economic Evaluation to Hasten Health Equity

Health Equity. 2021 Sep 15;5(1):627-632. doi: 10.1089/heq.2021.0010. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Maria Isabel Roldós^{1

2}, Nancy Breen³

Affiliations

¹ City University of New York (CUNY) Institute for Health Equity, Bronx, New York, USA.
² Department of Health Services Administration, School of Health Sciences, Human Services and Nursing (HS2N), Lehman College-CUNY, Bronx, New York, USA.
³ Office of Science Policy, Planning, Evaluation, and Reporting (OSPPER), National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.

Abstract

Achieving health equity has proven elusive for two reasons. First, most research has focused on changing the behavior of individuals; however, policies that address socioeconomic factors or change the context to facilitate healthy decisions tend to be more effective. Second, health disparity science and evidence are not consistently used to guide policy makers, even those seeking health equity. In this perspective, we discuss economic evaluation tools that researchers can use to assist decision-makers in conducting research or evaluating policy: self-reported health-related quality of life surveys and cost-benefit analysis evaluations informed with willingness to pay research and analyses.

Keywords: CBAs; HRQL; WTP; economic evaluations; health equity polices.