Health economics

Our main objective in the department of health economics is to encourage a cost-effective,. targeted and efficient use of the financial resources that are available for the provision of health care in Austria. The following questions of finance provision are essential (Health care systems and financing): What can or may a health care system cost? From which sources should financial means come? What must be done to increase the efficiency of the existing system?

An important aspect here is to monitor and analyse at regular intervals the performance of Austria’s health care system, e.g., by collecting international benchmarking data in order to show the strengths and weaknesses of our system.

Pharma issues are another focal area (Pharma economics). The establishment of a Pharmaceutical Pricing and Reimbursement network at international level (PPRI network) is a recent success story that was greatly acknowledged by the EU member states and other stakeholders. One of the core tasks in this field is the Pharma Price Information service, which assists the Austrian Pricing Committee to determine the EU average price. This service is the only public institution in the European Union where up-to-date information on pharmaceutical prices and price control in all 27 member states of the EU, in Norway and Switzerland is available.

In addition to research and analysis, also sovereign tasks such as maintaining Austria’s Medical Devices Registry are performed.
 
Contact: Claudia Habl, Sabine Vogler

All available publications in this field are listed in the  products section, and the pages of the individual departments give a selection of relevant publications.