Health Economics: department tasks

The department deals with economic issues related to health care in the German health care system, both for drug and non-drug interventions.

Staff members produce

Evaluations of data on patient numbers and treatment costs (as part of early benefit assessments)

Early benefit assessments are based on dossiers submitted by pharmaceutical companies to the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA). The results are published as dossier assessments. These early assessments follow the provisions of the Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products (AMNOG), which became effective in 2011.

Reports on routine practice data collections

In the case of drugs for rare diseases (orphan drugs) and drugs with special marketing authorization, the G-BA can request the responsible pharmaceutical company to collect and analyse routine practice data. This serves to improve the evidence base for the assessment of the added benefit of a drug. IQWiG can be commissioned to assess the relevant patient numbers as part of the decision-making process on whether to request a routine practice data collection.

Health economic evaluations

Since 2007, the health economic evaluation of drugs has been a statutory task of IQWiG. Although this tool is not currently used, one of the department's tasks is to keep the health economic evaluation methods up to date and to develop them further, based on international standards of evidence-based medicine and health economics.

Other tasks include

• preparation of expert reports on the economic efficiency of medical interventions,
• support for the "ThemenCheck Medizin" reports with regard to economic aspects,
• further development of methods for the analysis of health care and health economic issues, e.g. regarding the usability and analysis of routine data, and
• dissemination of evaluation methods and results, as well as other new scientific knowledge arising from the department's work, through presentations and publications.