Alberta Health Economics Study Group 2019
The Alberta Health Economics Study Group (AHESG) aims to bring together Alberta based health economists for a day of lively discussion about current research and will provide an opportunity for networking. The objective of AHESG meetings is to promote a study group atmosphere despite large numbers. All papers are pre-circulated and discussed in 45 minute-long sessions using discussants rather than author presentations. This session will focus on the research of students and trainees and will be a great opportunity to get feedback on early draft papers. The AHESG welcomes people from all backgrounds with an interest in Health Economics.
Learning from Canada’s health care systems: the promise, perils, and potholes of quasi-experimental methods in health economics research
Health economics research has made important contributions to improving health care system performance and to achieving the goals of the Quadruple Aim. One hammer in our toolbox is using quasi-experimental methods to estimate the impacts of interventions and policies. This approach is particularly valuable as the demand for real-world evidence increases and could be especially pertinent in the Canadian context, where at least 13 different health care systems coexist. However, concerns remain about the quality of evidence in the absence of randomization and using these methods appropriately is usually not as easy as it seems.
Dr. Strumpf will discuss some of the strengths and weaknesses of evaluation using quasi-experimental methods in health economics and health services and policy research. Enthusiasm about the potential to answer policy-relevant questions at a population level is justified. However, responsible use of these methods requires careful attention to identifying assumptions and modern techniques for statistical inference. She will also address some of the opportunities and challenges to conducting quasi-experimental impact evaluation in the Canadian context, including data availability and comparability, understanding policy contexts across jurisdictions, and the voluntary nature of many reforms.
Keynote Speaker
Dr. Erin Strumpf, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health and Department of Economics, McGill University
Erin Strumpf, PhD, is an associate professor at the Department of Economics and the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health at McGill University and a founding member of McGill’s Public Policy and Population Health Observatory (3PO). Dr. Strumpf holds a PhD in Health Policy and Economics from Harvard University, and a BA from Smith College. She is a William Dawson Scholar at McGill University and holds a Chercheurboursier Junior 2 from the Fonds de Recherche du Québec – Santé.
Dr. Strumpf and her research team focus on evaluating the impacts of health and social policies on the health and wellbeing of individuals and populations, as well as on the performance of the health care system. They use methods for causal inference, principally quasi-experimental designs, to estimate the effects of interventions and reforms in real-world settings and actively collaborate with decision makers to generate relevant, usable knowledge to improve population health and health care system performance. The team has strong expertise using administrative health data and large-scale surveys to evaluate the impact of health interventions and reforms in Quebec and Canada, as well as other jurisdictions around the world.
Event Details
Date: November 4 - 5, 2019
Dinner: Monday, November 4
Venue: Ampersand 27
Location: 10612 82 Ave NW, Edmonton, Alberta
Seminar: Tuesday, November 5
Venue: University of Alberta, (City Room, Peter Lougheed Hall)
Location: 11011 Saskatchewan Dr NW, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2B4 (Map link)
Agenda
Thank you to our partners
