There is a need to improve the efficient and cost-effective use of health care technologies and services at all levels of the health system. This unit covers all aspects of the policy, assessment, monitoring and re-assessment of technologies and services, and techniques to support investment and disinvestment decision-making by public payers and funders. Students will work through key concepts in health technology assessment as well as the key institutions and processes for regulating and managing the use of health technologies. Students will work through real world scenarios as case examples.

The aim of this unit is to increase students' understanding about the links between evidence and policy and planning and to build skills for making an evidence based case for change and implementing evidence based policy. The unit also advances conceptualisations of evidence for policy to include citizen, consumer and community experience as evidence. The teaching of this course will include: lectures, critical appraisal workshops, guest presentations from leading policy makers and student presentations of how evidence from research can assist them to address real world issues.. By the end of this unit students will be able to: Use evidence to identify areas that require policy change; Search for and critically appraise evidence for policy design and implementation; Understand key theories of the use of evidence in policy and practice; Critically analyse the role of evidence in policy and political processes; Understand citizen and community experience as evidence; Use evidence effectively in a case for policy change.