A Dose of Economics

Individualised therapies are treatments developed for a single patient, or a small handful of patients. They can be life-saving or life-altering, often where nothing else exists. In 2018, Mila became the first person in the world to receive a medicine designed just for her. So why isn’t the broader development of these treatments for ultra-rare genetic diseases keeping pace with scientific advances?

In the Season 2 premiere, Grace Hampson is joined by Julia Vitarello, founder of Mila's Miracle Foundation, and Amanda Cole, Director at OHE, to explore individualised genetic therapies, and what regulators, HTA bodies and payers need to change to bring them to more patients.

A Dose of Economics is Grace and the Office of Health Economics (OHE) team thinking out loud — debating the questions that matter most in healthcare policy, resource allocation, and health system decision-making, with the experts doing the work at the highest level. Follow the show so you don't miss new episodes every Tuesday, and tell us what you think.

Healthcare systems globally are responsible for nearly 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Understandably, many health systems have responded by setting net zero targets – but reaching those targets requires coordinated action across many parts of the healthcare ecosystem.  

As part of those efforts, should environmental impacts be taken into consideration when assessing the value of new health technologies?  

Grace Hampson is joined by Koonal Shah, Associate Director and Head of Science Policy at NICE, and Chris Sampson, Senior Principal Economist at OHE to ask whether environmental benefits (or harms) should also be incorporated into health technology assessments.  

A Dose of Economics is Grace and the Office of Health Economics (OHE) team thinking out loud — debating the questions that matter most in healthcare policy, resource allocation, and health system decision-making, with the experts doing the work at the highest level.

If there’s a topic you’d like us to cover, feel free to share your ideas.

Season 1 Finale - Thank You! 

This is it, the final episode of Season 1! Thank you to everyone who has listened and engaged with the show this season, whether you're a researcher, policymaker, or interested in the economics behind health and healthcare. 

Season 2 is already in the works and will launch this autumn. Until then, catch up on any episodes you missed, and thank you for being part of this journey. 

See you in the autumn! 

Prevention is often great value for money. And yet, countries all around the world are failing to properly invest in it, and their healthcare systems are paying the price.  

Grace Hampson is joined by Gundo Weiler, Director of Prevention and Health Promotion at the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe, and Graham Cookson, Chief Executive of the Office of Health Economics, to discuss why we continue to fail to properly fund prevention, and what we might be able to do about it.  

A Dose of Economics is Grace and the Office of Health Economics (OHE) team thinking out loud — debating the questions that matter most in healthcare policy, resource allocation, and health system decision-making, with the experts doing the work at the highest level. New episodes drop every Tuesday.  

If there’s a topic you’d like us to cover, feel free to share your ideas.

Health technology assessment (HTA) is the process by which health systems evaluate whether new medicines, devices, and other interventions offer good value for money. But the pace of innovation often outruns policy -- new developments in innovative therapies, digital health technologies, and a shifting geopolitical landscape are pushing HTA systems to their limits.

So are they still fit for purpose? And what would meaningful HTA reform actually look like?
 
Grace Hampson is joined by Brendan Shaw, Principal and Founder of Shawview Consulting and Adjunct Professor at the University of Sydney, and Martina Garau, Director at OHE, to take stock of HTA reform: what is driving it, what is working, and what still needs to change.

A Dose of Economics is Grace and the Office of Health Economics (OHE) team thinking out loud — debating the questions that matter most in healthcare policy, resource allocation, and health system decision-making, with the experts doing the work at the highest level. New episodes drop every Tuesday.

If there’s a topic you’d like us to cover, feel free to ⁠⁠⁠⁠share your ideas⁠⁠⁠⁠.

In April this year, NICE raised its cost-effectiveness threshold for the first time in 20 years, moving from £20,000-£30,000 per QALY to £25,000–£35,000 per QALY. On paper, it’s not a big difference. But the fact that there was a change, and how it came about, is significant.  

Grace Hampson is joined by Adrian Towse, who ran OHE as its Director for many years, and Chris Sampson, Senior Principal Economist at OHE, to dig into one of the most contested debates in health economics: the cost-effectiveness threshold, what it represents, and how it should be determined.  

A Dose of Economics is Grace and the Office of Health Economics (OHE) team thinking out loud — debating the questions that matter most in healthcare policy, resource allocation, and health system decision-making, with the experts doing the work at the highest level. New episodes drop every Tuesday. 

If there’s a topic you’d like us to cover, feel free to ⁠⁠⁠share your ideas⁠⁠⁠.

How do we actually measure health? And in health economics, what is the difference between measuring health and assigning a value to it? 

Grace Hampson is joined by David Mott, Associate Director at OHE, as well as Hannah Hussain, an Economist at OHE, both part of OHE’s Measuring and Valuing Outcomes team. They’ll unpack how health economists measure and value health, and why getting this right matters for healthcare decision-making. 

A Dose of Economics is Grace and the Office of Health Economics (OHE) team thinking out loud — debating the questions that matter most in healthcare policy, resource allocation, and health system decision-making, with the experts doing the work at the highest level. New episodes drop every Tuesday. 

If there’s a topic you’d like us to cover, feel free to ⁠⁠share your ideas⁠⁠.

AI is already reshaping how healthcare policy works. The question is not whether AI will also transform health economics – but how quickly, and whether we are ready for the opportunities and challenges it could bring. 
There is incredible potential here, but also real questions about rigour, accountability, and what AI means for people working in this space.  

 
Grace Hampson is joined by Tim Reason, co-founder and managing director of Estima Scientific, and Dalia Dawoud, Research Principal in HTA Policy and Strategy at Cytel to dive into all things AI and health economics. 

A Dose of Economics is Grace and the Office of Health Economics (OHE) team thinking out loud — debating the questions that matter most in healthcare policy, resource allocation, and health system decision-making, with the experts doing the work at the highest level. New episodes drop every Tuesday. 

If there’s a topic you’d like us to cover, feel free to ⁠⁠share your ideas⁠⁠.

When healthcare systems assess the value of a new medicine, should they only count the impact on the patient's health and the healthcare budget?  

The case for a broader, societal perspective in health technology assessment has been building for years, but so have the arguments against it.  

Grace Hampson is joined by Chris Skedgel, a Director at OHE, to dig into one of health economics' most contested methodological debates: what are health systems trying to achieve through health technology assessments (HTA)? And whose perspective should they adopt in doing so? 

A Dose of Economics is Grace and the Office of Health Economics (OHE) team thinking out loud — debating the questions that matter most in healthcare policy, resource allocation, and health system decision-making, with the experts doing the work at the highest level. New episodes drop every Tuesday. 

For more on this topic, read OHE’s insight Valuing patient and carer time in HTA: equity and opportunity cost

If there’s a topic you’d like us to cover, feel free to ⁠share your ideas⁠.

The Joint Clinical Assessment (JCA) is a milestone in European health policy, promising a single shared evaluation of the efficacy and safety of new medicines across EU member states. Theoretically, this should mean consistency for innovators and faster access to medicines for patients. But one year on, how is JCA working in practice, and what needs to happen next?  

 
 Grace Hampson is joined by Patrick Hopkinson, founder of PHTA Consulting and global market access expert, and Matthias Hofer, Senior Principal Economist at OHE, to take stock of the lessons learned from the first year of JCA, and discuss what’s yet to come.  

A Dose of Economics is Grace and the Office of Health Economics (OHE) team thinking out loud — debating the questions that matter most in healthcare policy, resource allocation, and health system decision-making, with the experts doing the work at the highest level. New episodes drop every Tuesday.    

If there’s a topic you’d like us to cover, feel free to share your ideas.

Around 5 million deaths per year are linked to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and this number is growing, with AMR-related deaths predicted to surpass deaths from cancer by 2050. And yet, the global pipeline of new antibiotics is critically underdeveloped. So how do we address the problem? 

Grace Hampson is joined by Lotte Steuten, Deputy Chief Executive of the Office of Health Economics and David McKinney, Co-founder of ARMoR, to dig into the market failures surrounding the AMR crisis and debate what it would take to turn the tide. 

A Dose of Economics is Grace and the Office of Health Economics (OHE) team thinking out loud — debating the questions that matter most in healthcare policy, resource allocation, and health system decision-making, with the experts doing the work at the highest level. New episodes drop every Tuesday.  

If there’s a topic you’d like us to cover, feel free to share your ideas.

Find the Lifeline album on Spotify