Much of our work involves economic evaluations that assess the cost-effectiveness of drugs, devices, procedures, diagnostic methods, screening practices and healthcare delivery routes. Economic evaluations, such as cost-utility analyses, assess whether the health benefits of an intervention justify the additional cost. Such analyses are used by policymakers around the world to allocate scarce healthcare resources.

Our trial-based economic evaluations use prospective data on resource use and quality of life to assess the cost-effectiveness of the trial intervention. We have collaborated with multiple clinical trials units, including the Primary Care Clinical Trials Unit, OCTRU, CTSU, NPEU, SITU, Bristol University, and Duke University.

We teach best practice for trial-based economic evaluation and applied methods on the MSc in Clinical Trials and the Integrating Economic Evaluation into Clinical Trials and Applied Methods of Cost-Effectiveness Analysis short courses.

We also use and develop decision models to extrapolate trial results or inform resource allocation decisions outside the context of randomised trials. Our models have included the UKPDS-OM diabetes model.

Alongside applied work, HERC also develops novel methods for economic evaluation. The HERC Database of Mapping Studies is a live systematic review used by policymakers and researchers worldwide.

We also research how economic evidence is used to set priorities and develop methods to help decision-makers. This includes developing methods for health technology assessment decisions in situations where the costs, benefits or options for one decision are affected by decisions about other healthcare interventions.

Current economic evaluations span diverse diseases including chronic diseases (such as asthma, cancer, dementia, diabetes, cardiovascular, and renal disease), eye disease, genetics and genomics, infectious diseases, maternal health and paediatrics, mental health, and musculoskeletal disease and trauma.