This report provides a summary of the IHE/CAPT Precision Health workshop that took place on October 22, 2017 in Toronto, Ontario. The intent of the workshop was to identify gaps and opportunities in implementing precision health technologies into the Canadian health system. The workshop was supported by unrestricted grants from Merck Canada and Hoffmann-La Roche Limited.The views…
This report provides a summary of the IHE Real-World Evidence Roundtable, which took place on December 12, 2016. The intent of the roundtable was to capture initial thinking regarding preferences and perceptions of the use of real-world evidence for pricing and reimbursement of new medicines in Canada and what more may be needed.
This report provides a summary of the IHE Biosimilars Forum engagement exercise that took place on April 23, 2017 in Ottawa, Ontario. The intent of the forum was to identify: options to categorize and consider biosimilars; a process to engage stakeholders to identify place in therapy and further evidence development that may be required; and an approach to knowledge exchange that…
Alberta Health Services (AHS) has established a number of Strategic Clinical Networks (SCNs) in the province around specific health care topics (e.g., Cardiovascular Health & Stroke) and within areas where care is delivered (e.g., Surgery). The SCNs are the engines of innovation in the health system and have a mandate to find new and innovative ways of delivering care to provide…
This report provides a summary of the IHE Biosimilars Forum engagement exercise that took place on October 6, 2016 in Edmonton. The intent of the forum was to inform Alberta biosimilar reimbursement policy by sharing international experiences in this area, and the perspectives of key stakeholders.
The Institute of Health Economics (IHE), in partnership with the Canadian Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation (CPFF), held a forum on April 25th, 2016 in Toronto, Ontario, entitled Optimizing access to care for patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: A multi-stakeholder national forum, to discuss the need for patient-led policy recommendations and a patient charter for idiopathic…
This white paper follows on from the 2016 IHE report, Economic surveillance for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Alberta. It provides a summary of main gaps in COPD care across Canada and, in the context of a broad economic framework, it surveys important examples of programs and policies designed to address these gaps.
The Institute of Health Economics (IHE) together with the O’Brien Institute for Public Health (O’Brien Institute) held a policy forum on February 8th, 2016, entitled Physicians as Stewards of Resources: Roles, Responsibilities, and Remuneration to inform decision-making regarding the fiscal sustainability of theprovincial healthcare system, with a specific…
This report is from an Alberta Strategic Clinical Networks (SCN) exchange meeting with Mr. Neil Fraser. This event brought together SCNs and related health system stakeholders, and a leader in the Canadian medical technology industry, and recent member of a Federal Advisory Panel on Healthcare Innovation. The meeting had the objectives to help the SCNs to understand the Advisory…
The Institute of Health Economics held a roundtable on June 4, 2015, entitled Innovative Funding Models: Kidney Care Policy Options for the Future, to identify and discuss key issues in kidney care policy options. Prior to the roundtable, an Innovative Funding Models: Kidney Care Policy Options for the Future Steering Committee teleconference refined project objectives, and the…
The Institute of Health Economics (IHE), in partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd./Ltée held an invitational forum on October 3, 2015, in Edmonton, Alberta. The purpose of this discussion was to bring together multiple stakeholders from across Canada to investigate the current state of evidence and information regarding idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and…
Alberta Health Services (AHS) has recently established a number of Strategic Clinical Networks (SCNs) in the province around specific health care topics (e.g., Cardiovascular Health & Stroke) and within areas where care is delivered (e.g., Surgery). The SCNs are the engines of innovation in the health system and have a mandate to find new and innovative ways of delivering care…
Economic surveillance and economic assessments are important sources of information to help administrators and policy makers to track current trends and evaluate policies and care patterns. The Institute of Health Economics, in partnership with Alberta Health, held a two-day Costing Methods Workshop which helped to review costing practices by bringing together economists and other…
The Federal Minister of Health, the Honourable Rona Ambrose, announced the creation of the Advisory Panel on Healthcare Innovation (Panel) on June 24, 2014, to examine innovative health care ideas and approaches that exist in Canada and internationally. The Panel’s mandate is to identify promising innovations, here and internationally, which could help Canada reduce growth…
In November 2014, the Institute of Health Economics partnered with Eli Lilly Canada Inc. and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research’s Institute for Health Services and Policy Research to hold a roundtable to discuss the federal role in healthcare innovation. The roundtable aimed to examine the existing state of healthcare innovation, its strengths and weaknesses (or gaps),…
Real World Evidence: System Readiness – Are we ready to use routinely collected data to improve health system performance? Summary Report Real World Evidence: Priority Setting for Action was an invitational roundtable discussion organized by the Institute of Health Economics (IHE) and supported by and developed in partnership with Strategy for Patient Oriented Research Support…
The Provincial Industry Payer Agreements in an Era of National Purchasing Strategies half-day invitational roundtable was part of the IHE's ongoing Methodology Forum series supported by the Institute of Health Economics, the Alberta government, and industry partners, AstraZeneca, Merck, and Eli Lilly. The event brought together academic experts, industry leaders and senior decision…
The EQ-5D is a standardized instrument developed by the EuroQol group for use as a measure of health outcome. It considers five dimensions of health-related quality of life: mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, anxiety/depression. When the need for greater collaboration around implementation and use of the EQ-5D in Alberta was recognized in eary 2012, colleagues…
The concept of “personalized medicine” in health is garnering increased attention. Personalized medicine can be defined as the tailoring of preventive, diagnostic, or therapeutic interventions to the characteristics of an individual or population. This may involve genetic or laboratory biomarker information. As personalized medicine promises to increasingly change the…
In February 2012, the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) in partnership with the Institute of Health Economics (IHE) sponsored a two day meeting of content, administrative and research experts to identify the breadth of diagnostic imaging studies that CIHI might feasibly undertake with its data or with data that could be easily obtained. The purpose of this report…
Sponsored by the Institute of Health Economics (IHE) – Methodology Forum Series. Presented at the Health Canada and Canadian Institutes of Health Research Personalised Medicine in Canada: A Multi-Stakeholder Workshop to Examine the Canadian Perspective, January 12, 2012. The specific objectives of this session/workshop were to: Explore issues relevant to economic evaluation…
The Institute of Health Economics organized the November 17 roundtable, with funding from Merck and in-kind support from the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation. The roundtable served as an initial gathering of the original partners and invited delegates (see Appendix I for full participant list) to further develop the HCiC partnership and begin planning…
This report describes the outcomes of a two day workshop that explored options for improving quality and access to diagnostic imaging services for low back pain (LBP) in Alberta through the engagement of stakeholders that are involved in the assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and management of this condition. These include health professionals, health service managers, administrators,…
As part of Alberta Health Services (AHS) Strategic Health Needs Assessment and Service Design 2030 project, “Becoming the Best: Building Sustainability” the Institute of Health Economics (IHE) was commissioned to conduct three Knowledge Exchange events between February and May 2011. These single-day conferences assembled leading international thinkers and experts in…
This one-day, invitational event engaged community experts and senior decision-makers involved in First Nations, Inuit, and Métis health policy in Canada in round-table discussions. Integrated Knowledge Exchange in health requires communities, researchers, and policy-makers utilize evidence from all sources in a culturally relevant way.
On September 23rd and 24th, 2010, the Institute of Health Economics conducted an Inaugural IHE Methodology Forum: Prioritizing Methodological Research in Evaluation of Health Technologies. Delegates from academia, government, industry and other stakeholders involved in the production and use of evidence were brought together to discuss methodological challenges in…
The Effective Involvement of Patients in Health Technology Decisions: What Does Best Look Like? program presented some of the latest international and Canadian developments in policy in this important area. It also included presentations from experts and interactive discussion amongst the participants.
The outcome of IHE initiatives is providing better information for developing health policy and best medical practices. IHE disseminates information in many ways. In addition to publications in peer-reviewed journals, IHE produces books and a variety of reports synthesizing information in a particular field.