Health Economics for NHS Trusts
The NHSIL Xcelerate™ Health Economics Unit is dedicated to the London Trusts and has the ability to provide meaningful Health Economic support that can make a tangible difference.
How can we help NHS Trusts?
Decision making
Our Health Outcomes Unit aims to work in collaboration with London Trusts to provide research, training and consultancy which can help Trust Executives in their budgetary decision making processes. By employing a range of respected and established health outcomes techniques, the Unit can contribute hard facts, enabling Trusts to make informed decisions on healthcare practices.
The NHSIL team can support London Trusts in a variety of ways. For example, when considering the introduction of new products or treatment pathways, the Unit can undertake cost impact analysis to provide a clear comparison of the cost and healthcare benefits of existing practices compared with implementing new technologies and treatments.
It can also quantify the cost of established practices to ensure they represent the most cost-effective route. Furthermore, the team can apply its skills to assess entire and complex patient treatment pathways from an economic perspective to highlight how and where changes such as drug substitution could reduce costs without compromising patient outcomes.
Creating revenue streams
Extending role in clinical trials
Manufacturers requiring reimbursement for new healthcare products require a compelling economic case alongside clinical data. NHS Trusts involved in clinical trials are ideally placed to evaluate the economic impact of new therapies or devices in tandem with their work to assess clinical performance. By offering to undertake so called 'piggyback' evaluations, whereby economic evaluations are performed alongside clinical trials, Trusts can enhance their partnership appeal to industry. In this context, the NHSIL Health Outcomes Unit can train NHS staff in a sequence of courses showing them how to conduct Health Economic trials.
Making NHS Data Count
Patient confidentiality and respect are the cornerstones of the NHS and must never be compromised. However, the patient datasets held by London NHS Trusts and PCTs represent an enormously valuable and hitherto untapped resource that could be utilised - sensitively and responsibly - to accelerate research and generate funds to support better patient care and access to better treatments.
In developing an economic case, it can be difficult for industry to access naturalistic data. Companies often have to rely on more theoretical, subjective estimates which can be unsatisfactory and less persuasive. In this arena, the NHSIL Health Outcomes Unit can act as a bridge to broker agreements that enable Trusts to help industry gain a better picture of how new or already marketed products might be used in 'the real world'.
Health Outcomes for Trust Innovators
This includes determining initial project viability from an economic perspective; sourcing expert opinion and powerful data to develop a robust Health Economic case; and explaining the economic advantages of new products to key audiences such as healthcare providers, investors or potential partners. The Unit can also provide consultancy research and advice to partners who adopt new NHS technologies.
NHSIL is already working with a number of NHS inventors to establish whether their ideas offer real and quantifiable patient and cost advantages and to build compelling economic cases to support the adoption of new innovations.
Training for Success
As well as its work to support decision making and Trust innovators and increase industry partnerships, the NHSIL Health Outcomes Unit can provide tailored training courses to educate Trust and PCT staff on the importance, principles and techniques of Health Economics and how its application can support better patient care.
For further information contact Andy Ingram, Head of Xcelerate™ Health Outcomes.
