November Newsletter

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Congress

Extension of Abstracts

By popular demand, IHEA would like to announce that we have extended the deadline for abstract submissions for the 2023 Congress – abstract submissions will now close on Tuesday, December 6th, 2022. Abstracts can be submitted here.

We would like to encourage health economists to make submissions in the form of an individual abstract or an organized session. You can learn more about the Congress here before submitting your abstract.

As a reminder, the 15th World Congress on Health Economics, which has the theme of Diversity in Health Economics, is taking place from July 8-12, 2023 in Cape Town. IHEA Congresses are well established as the forum to engage around the latest research findings in health economics from around the world, the implications of this research for health policy and practice, and new methodological developments in the discipline.

For any inquiries about the submission process please contact events@healtheconomics.org.

We look forward to having you participate in our congress in Cape Town next year.

Call for Pre-Congress Session proposals: IHEA 2023 Congress, Cape Town 

A program of pre-congress sessions will take place on Saturday, July 8th, and Sunday, July 9th, 2023 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC). The sessions provide an opportunity to take advantage of health economists coming together from around the world. These sessions are organized and coordinated by the person or organization submitting the proposal, after review by IHEA and the Local Organizing Committee. Sessions may be open or closed depending on the nature of the meeting, but should preferably be open for congress delegates to join. 

All rooms will be equipped with a computer, data projector, screen, and microphone. Flip charts can be made available on request. A hybrid event is also possible for an additional charge. Rooms with a range of seating capacities are available and sessions can be scheduled for two hours, a half day, or a full day. The cost to session organizers is presented below. Two-day sessions are also possible; the cost is double that for a single day. Mid-morning and afternoon beverages will be provided for all pre-congress session participants. Participants can purchase lunch at one of the CTICC coffee shops or restaurants. These prices are based on the venue hire, IT support, and catering costs associated with holding these sessions. Any surplus generated from the pre-congress sessions will be used to assist in covering the costs of the core congress and to keep registration fees for the congress as low as possible.

Pre-Congress Session Costs (U.S. Dollars: $USD)

Venue capacity	2 hours	1/2 day	Full day
35	1,225	1,750	3,500
50	1,750	2,500	5,000
70	2,450	3,500	7,000
100	3,500	5,000	10,000
200	N/A	10,000	20,000

Proposals for pre-congress sessions should be submitted using this online form at any stage before January 16th, 2023; acceptance of proposals may close before that date as available space will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Proposals should provide the following information:

• Name, institutional affiliation, and contact details of session organizer 
• Session title 
• A description of the intended audience for the session 
• Session length (two hours, half day, full day, or two-days) 
• Required room size, preferred seating arrangements, and equipment requirements 
• Preferred session date (Saturday, July 8th or Sunday, July 9th, noting that scheduling will be done on a first-come, first-served basis) 
• Description of session format (e.g. training workshop, mini-conference with open call for peer-review of abstracts, organized session, meeting, etc.) and whether the session will be open to all delegates or by invitation only 
• Description of the session content (up to 500 words), indicating the aim of the session, a brief description of the content of the session (either the names of presenters and their presentation topics if an organized session, or the topics on which abstracts will be elicited if a mini-conference) and the structure of the session, including how participation from attendees will be promoted 
• A 50-word overview of the session that will be posted on the Congress website and in the program 
• Billing details (name, organization and contact details for invoice)

IHEA encourages pre-congress session organizers to seek sponsorship to cover the costs of their session, rather than charging participants, to facilitate access to these sessions, particularly for congress delegates with limited financial resources such as delegates from low- and middle-income countries, students, and early career researchers. Sponsors of pre-congress sessions will be listed on the congress website and acknowledged in the session. 

Overviews of accepted sessions will be listed on the congress website, which will be included in informational emails sent to congress participants and the congress program. Session organizers are encouraged to advertise their session through other websites, and listservs. Congress delegates will have an opportunity to register for these sessions in advance.

Early Career Researcher Pre-Congress Session at the 2023 IHEA Congress in Cape Town

IHEA is pleased to announce a Pre-Congress Session dedicated to Early Career Researchers (ECRs).

This session will be on Saturday, July 8th, 2023 and is organized by the ECR Special Interest Group (SIG). ECRs will be able to present their research and receive detailed feedback from their peers and senior researchers in their field. PhD students or scientists who have received their highest degree (Master’s or PhD) in the past seven years (allowing for career interruptions)  are eligible to submit abstracts.

Session Format

• ECRs will be selected via a competitive process to have their work discussed in the session. The session will be open to all ECRs.
• Participants will submit a working paper in advance of the session. This should be advanced work in progress, including results.
• Each paper will have a senior health economist discussant.
• The discussant will evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the paper and make suggestions regarding how the ECR might proceed with this work. This could include advice on journals to target, how the paper could be written for different audiences, how to attract an international audience, or how to improve the odds of acceptance in a leading health economics journal.
• The conversation will then be opened up to the other ECRs and senior researchers in the room. The emphasis will be on providing constructive feedback.
• All ECR attendees will benefit from hearing feedback provided by senior health economists (some specific to the submitted paper, and some more general).
• All ECR attendees will be able to engage with senior health economists during the session and afterwards.
• There will be a prize for the paper with the greatest potential to contribute to health economics. 

Eligibility and Dates

• PhD students or scientists who have received their highest degree (Master’s or PhD) in the past seven years are eligible (allowing for career interruptions).
• Abstract submission will open in October 2022 and will close on Monday December 19th, 2022.
• Abstracts can be submitted on any topic.
• Abstracts should be 1,000 – 1,500 words long (text only).
• Submission of an abstract will not impact eligibility to submit abstracts to the main Congress.
• ECRs will be notified of decisions in February 2023. Participants must submit full working papers in May 2023.

To submit an abstract, please click here. The deadline is Monday, December 19th, 2022.

Selection of 2021 IHEA Congress recordings available to all

The IHEA Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Promotion and Monitoring (EDI PM) group is happy to announce the availability of recordings of selected IHEA 2021 Congress sessions via the IHEA website and YouTube channel. It was not possible to upload all session recordings and hence the EDI PM group followed a systematic approach, in line with the group’s objectives, to select some sessions. The EDI PM group hopes that this initiative will increase access and share recent developments in health economics with a broader audience as well as improve the visibility of research and researchers from low and middle-income countries. 

Tuba Saygin Avsar (University College London) and Kompal Sinha (Macquarie University) on behalf of the EDI PMG

The Adam Wagstaff Prize

Would you like your research considered for the Adam Wagstaff Award for Outstanding Research on the Economics of Healthcare Financing and Delivery in Low- and Middle-Income Countries? Submit an abstract for the 2023 IHEA Congress!

The Adam Wagstaff prize will be awarded to the best IHEA congress paper on the economics of healthcare financing or delivery in a low- or middle-income country(ies) that is written and presented by a researcher from a low- or middle-income country (LMIC). This prestigious prize is awarded to honour Adam’s lifelong commitment to research that analyzes, promotes and monitors health system efficiency and equity in LMICs and improves the health of the world’s poorest. 

If you meet the criteria below, you need to submit an abstract for the 2023 IHEA Congress and indicate that you wish for your paper to be considered for this award. If your abstract is accepted by the Scientific Committee for oral presentation at the Congress, you will be invited to submit a full paper for review by the selection committee. 

To be eligible for consideration for this prize: 

• This award is intended for early career researchers (ECRs)/recent graduates, not those currently studying. 
• The paper must focus on the economics of healthcare financing or delivery in a LMIC.  The research should be policy-relevant in that it should provide insights into how to improve healthcare financing or delivery. Papers with an equity focus are encouraged. 
• The first author of the paper (or corresponding author where authors are listed alphabetically) and presenter at the congress must be a citizen of a LMIC (using the World Bank country income classification). Co-authors on the paper are not restricted to LMIC citizens. 
• The main author and presenter at the congress must have submitted their doctorate or have completed their doctorate within the last seven full-time equivalent years. 
• To be considered for the award, a full paper must be available three months before the congress and be submitted with a personal statement of 500-words outlining your future career plans at the time of application. 
• Submitters should be willing to commit to contributing to health economics in LMICs if they win this award. This could take the form of mentoring researchers with very limited experience, co-supervising a (post-)graduate student, serving on the Award Committee in future, or related activity, depending on the skills and preferences of the Awardee. 

Please see more detailed information on eligibility criteria, frequently asked questions on these criteria (FAQs), and nature of the award here. 

Call for Nominations for the Student Paper Prize   

Deadline: January 13, 2023 

The International Health Economics Association (IHEA) is pleased to invite nominations for the Annual Student Paper Prize in Health Economics. Nominations should include a brief letter of nomination (250-words max) and a copy of the paper (preferably PDF).   

A student is defined as someone currently studying (full or part time) at a higher education institution, at either Masters or Doctoral level. In addition, students who have completed their studies in the year previous to the announcement qualify as long as the paper was written while registered as a student.  Papers can be published or unpublished, but must be in comparable format to a published paper in the Journal of Health Economics or Health Economics, at a maximum length of 8,000 words. Self-nomination is acceptable. Papers should be in English. If a submitted paper has more than one author, the student contribution must be at least 75% overall and an accompanying letter must be signed by co-authors to support this, stating the nature of their contribution (conceptualization, analysis, writing etc.). A joint student paper with 50-50 contributions is acceptable. Previous winners are not eligible.  Papers will be reviewed by an International Committee chaired by Professor Tinna Laufey Ásgeirsdóttir.  

The Prize will be complimentary registration for the 2023 IHEA Congress to present the paper in a Student Prize Special Organised Session chaired by the IHEA President, or Chair of the Prize Committee, a cash prize and the offer (if the author wishes, and the paper is unpublished) of potential fast track publication in Health Economics, subject to editorial approval. The papers in 2nd and 3rd place will receive a small cash prize and free registration for the 2023 IHEA Congress. They will be invited to give brief presentations at the IHEA Congress Student Prize Special Organized Session.   

Please submit nominations, and address queries by email to: ta@hi.is   

IHEA will be at AEA! 

IHEA will be represented at the American Economic Association Annual meeting in New Orleans, January 6-­8, 2023. We will be hosting two organised sessions and co-­hosting a reception with the American Society of Health Economists. 

Details on our two sessions are below: 

• Friday, January 6, 2023; 2:30-4:30 pm (CST): Health worker performance and improving access to quality healthcare 
• Saturday, January 7, 2023; 8:00-10:00 am (CST): Strategies for, and impacts of, increasing health insurance coverage

The ASHEcon/IHEA happy hour will take place on Saturday, January 7 from 6:30 – 7:30pm in the Lafayette-Napolean room. RSVP here!

More details and the full program can be found here.

Teaching Health Economics (THE) SIG news 

The THE SIG facilitated a series of virtual workshops and webinars during 2022, covering a range of course development and implementation topics, such as: developing learning outcomes; context-relevant and inclusive course outlines, reading lists and case studies; active learning techniques and materials; and innovative techniques for student assessment. 

The recordings of these events form a very useful resource for anyone wanting to develop new health economics teaching programs, introduce innovations in their existing programs or further develop their own teaching skills. All of these recordings can be found on the IHEA YouTube channel here. Copies of the presentations are available on the THE SIG webpage here. 

The last virtual workshop in the series will be held on January 25, 2023. Joanna Coast and Lisa Gold will participate in a panel discussion on “Supervising research dissertations and building research supervision capacity”. 

Supervising research dissertations and building research supervision capacity 

Wednesday, January 25, 2023, from 5 – 6 AM EST; 10 – 11 AM UK; 1 – 2 PM East Africa; 6 – 7 PM China & Western Australia; 9 – 10 PM East Australia.

Presenters/panelists: Joanna Coast, University of Bristol and Lisa Gold, Deakin University 

This workshop will include brief presentations and extensive discussion on effective student research supervision practices, and guidance for developing individual skills and institutional capacity for supervision to grow Masters and Doctoral programs. Issues raised in a survey of current students and recent graduates will feed into these discussions. Participants will be encouraged to share their experience, whether as a student or supervisor. 

Register here.

Health economics activities at Brandeis University’s Heller School for Social Policy and Management

1. Overview

Health economics has long been an important focus of research and teaching at Brandeis University’s Schneider Institutes for Health Policy and Research. Researchers at the Institutes conduct studies on a variety of policy-relevant topics relevant to health economics and health policy, such as performance measurement, health care financing, out-of-pocket spending, and alternative provider payment approaches. The Institutes are located within the university’s Heller School for Social Policy and Management, which offers seven graduate degree programs, several of which have concentrations in health policy and coursework in health economics.

• Research

The Schneider Institutes were founded in 1978 as one of the first academically-based health care research centers in the US. The overarching goal of the Institutes today is to conduct policy-focused research and to develop policy recommendations where appropriate to address major health and behavioral health issues in the U.S. and internationally. Much of this research is funded by competitive grants and contracts from the National Institutes of Health, state and federal government agencies, foundations, and private companies. Many of the studies are conducted by multidisciplinary teams, where health economists work alongside other social scientists and health professionals, using both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Each year the Schneider Institutes conduct about 200 research projects.

The three institutes are:

• The Institute on Healthcare Systems (IHS) is dedicated to bringing greater knowledge to both private and public policymakers through state and national forums, short-term policy studies and research. Our broad expertise in payment systems, delivery systems, patient care practices and quality allow us to develop real-world solutions, particularly for vulnerable populations. Health economics research foci include the design and evaluation of value-based payment strategies, diffusion of innovation and care redesign, health care workforce issues, and economic evaluations.
• The Institute for Behavioral Health (IBH) focuses on the intersection of health, behavior and systems of care, with an emphasis on their links. Its underlying premise is that these systems, including health care, as well as criminal, legal, education, social services, housing, military and the workplace, can be better used to promote healthier lifestyles and assist individuals to engage in behaviors which lead to better health. A particular focus is research on how organization, management, financing and payment make a difference in the effective delivery of prevention, treatment, and recovery services for alcohol, drug, and mental health problems.
• The Institute for Global Health and Development (IGHD) seeks to bring the best research to leaders and policy makers to achieve results at scale with a focus on the poor and social justice. IGHD does direct government advising, policy-relevant research and evaluation, and advocacy to impact policymaking in partnership with like-minded institutions in the U.S., the international community and the developing world. Health economics research foci include program design for international aid programs such as PEPFAR and the Global Fund, and interventions to improve access to primary care in poor countries. In an ongoing project, our economists and data scientists joined together in harnessing the modern data science techniques of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning AI+ML to build predictive analytics that better explore the determinants of food insecurity in low/middle income countries.  

In addition, the Heller School has several other research centers and institutes that focus on pressing social policy issues such as the racial wealth gap, substance use disorder, disability rights and more.

• Education

The Heller School drives positive social change through our 7 graduate degree programs, 10 research centers and institutes, and school-wide commitment to public engagement. Heller is for people who want to find sustainable solutions to social inequities and are committed to careers that advance social justice. Research faculty are a key part of a Heller education—they teach courses, employ students as research assistants and provide mentoring, as well as drawing on their policy-relevant research in designing the curriculum.

We work to ensure a safe and inclusive environment in which community members respect and value others. In the pursuit of the Heller motto, “Knowledge Advancing Social Justice,” we are committed to equity, inclusion and diversity in our research institutes, academic programs, policies and community relationships. U.S. News & World Report recently ranked the Heller School #8 for health policy and management, and #10 for social policy.

Two of our programs include a particular focus on health economics:

The PhD in Social Policy. Heller PhD students learn to design and conduct policy research in a program with a 100% employment rate at a top-ten graduate school of social policy. In addition to two years of coursework, PhD students participate in a doctoral seminar, complete a comprehensive exam and successfully defend a dissertation typically within four to six years of entry. Every full-time student receives tuition and stipend support. The program offers a concentration in Health Policy, and courses such as Health Economics, Economics of Behavioral Health, Applied Econometrics, Cost-Effectiveness Analysis, Health Policy, and Payment and Financing of Health Care.

• The Master of Science (MS) in Global Health Policy and Management provides aspiring global health professionals with the comprehensive expertise and cutting-edge techniques they need to provide essential health care services that communities depend on most. We believe that effective policy is the key to expanding access to high-quality health care for all who need it — which is why we place health policy at the center of our curriculum through a focus on system design and financing, data analytics and management. The STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) Concentration is tailored to teach students the data and analytical skills that are key to fields such as health economics, health insurance, econometrics and impact evaluations. Students take a set of core courses as well as a curated selection of quantitative electives that bolster their skills in health economics and analytics. Learn more about the STEM Concentration here to see how our graduates apply data science techniques in improving economic efficiency of health systems.

The other degree programs offered at the school are:

• Master of Public Policy (MPP): includes a concentration in Health Policy.
• Social Impact MBA: includes a concentration in Healthcare Management.
• MA In Conflict Resolution & Coexistence.
• MA In Sustainable International Development: includes coursework in economic evaluation.
• Executive MBA For Physicians.

Did You Know

IHEA holds several webinars each month, some of which have simultaneous translation into languages other than English.  Anyone can participate live in these webinars and all webinars are recorded and made available on the IHEA YouTube Channel. You can find details of all IHEA webinars and other events, as well as health economics events offered by other organizations here. don’t miss out on updates on all events by subscribing to our events calendar (see the image below for reference)!

View all upcoming events online here.