Mission Statement

Health economics is a subject that applies economic theory, models and empirical techniques to the analysis of decision-making by individuals, health care providers and governments with respect to health and health care.

The aim of the new Department of Health Economics (DHE) is to support efficiency and equity concerning health and health care and create relevant interdisciplinary collaborations within the Medical University of Vienna and with other Austrian and international research and decisions making institutions by: 

• Promoting the understanding and use of health economics in research and decision making nationally and internationally
• Developing relevant undergraduate, graduate and professional education and training programmes in Austria
• Fostering research capacity development through the supervision of master and doctorate students in health economics
• Excelling in collaborative applied and methodological research programmes both nationally and internationally
• Acting as a point of call for health care professionals for expert advice

Major research areas include the synthesis of evidence on and appraisal of the socioeconomic burden of diseases, the costs, benefits and cost-effectiveness of preventative, diagnostic and treatment interventions both alongside clinical studies and using modelling techniques. Further research interests cover the evaluation of health services and health systems.

NEWS & EVENTS

» 17 July 2019 PECUNIA Satellite Workshop in Basel - the 2nd milestone after 17 month - after finalising the multi-sectoral country reports an compiled sector specific master service lists in all participating countries. For more information and registration: PECUNIA Satellite Workshop the 1st satellite workshop during the iHEA Conference in Basel.

» 13-17 July 2019 iHEA WORLD CONGRESS in Basel - New Heights in Health Economics

• Judit Simon: "Cross-Cultural and Inter-Country Transferability and Validity of the OxCAP-MH Well-Being Questionnaire" 
• Judit Simon: "Multi-Sectoral Costs and Benefits of Mental Care in Europe: European Research Project PECUNIA"

» 6-8 June 2019 ENMESH Conference in Lisbon, Portugal where researchers network and discuss research related issues - Conference on Mental Health Service Research.

• Judit Simon: "Patterns of physical comorbidities in patients with selected mental health disorders"
• Dennis Wienand: "The excess resource use and costs of physical comorbidities in patients with mental health disorders: a systematic literature review"
• Agata Laszewska: "Resource use patterns, healthcare and lost productivitiy costs among adults with and without mental health diagnoses: cross-sectional survey in Austria"

» 17 May 2019 2nd Scientific Advisory Board Meeting in PECUNIA in Vienna took place for updates and to give targeted input.

» 16-18 October 2019: The DHE Short Course "Evidence-based healthcare evaluation: Introduction to evidence synthesis and health economics" is taking place. For more information and registration: DHE Short Course

»29-31 March 2019: ICMPE Conference in Venice - Fourteenth Workshop on Costs and Assessment in Psychiatry: The Value of Mental Health Services 

• Claudia Fischer: "Valuation Methods in Costing for International, Multi-Sectoral Mental Health Economic Evaluations: A Structured Scoping Review." (oral presentation)
  
• Judit Simon: "Inter-sectoral Costs and Benefits of Mental Care in Europe: European Research Project PECUNIA."(oral presentation)
• Dennis Wienand: "The Excess Costs and Resource Use of Physical Comorbidities in Patients with Mental Health Disorders: A Systematic Review.
• Giulio Castelpietra, Judit Simon, Luis Salvador-Carulla: "Ambiguity in Psychotherapy Definition: Is There an Urgent Need of an International Classification?" (poster)