Economic Evaluation and Public Health Leadership – PRC Experience

Economic evaluation contributes to evidence-based decision making by helping public health leaders and decision makers identify, measure, and compare activities with the necessary impact, scalability, and sustainability to optimize population health. However, economic evaluation is not yet broadly used or understood among public health leaders. CDC Prevention Research Centers (PRC) program leadership decided to include cost analysis (CA) for the 2014-2019 evaluation of the 26 funded PRCs. The CA would provide a systematic collection and break down of the PRC’s core research project costs and provide baseline information for future economic evaluation studies, such as cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) and cost-benefit analysis (CBA), when the PRC core research project studies are completed.This overview describes economic evaluation and its role in public health evidence-based decision making.

There are several types of economic evaluation.  This overview aims to: define and describe each type of economic evaluation; and describe the relationship between decision levels and each type of economic evaluation.  For example, a cost-benefit analysis showed sugary drink regulation in New York could avoid $3.3 to $13.2 billion (2012 USD) of premature mortality due to chronic disease and conditions.

As with epidemiology, economic evaluations are becoming another cornerstone in the foundation of public health decision making. It is essential for public health leaders to have a general knowledge of economic evaluations contribution to a comprehensive public health decision making process.

Disclaimer: The findings and conclusions in this abstract are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the CDC.