Thinking critically, acting practically, joining the dots...

This is for the purpose of introducing the online system to participants in the online course. You will be introduced to how the webinar option works, what to expect from quizzes, where announcements and discussions will be available, how the content will be posted and how to keep track of your grades.

Intervention research is research undertaken to develop new or improved healthcare interventions and to evaluate the effectiveness of pharmacologic interventions. This is considered to be the most reliable evidence in healthcare research. In a clinical trial setting, the researcher aims to explore whether a medical strategy, a treatment or a device is safe and effective for humans. Clinical trials produce the best data available for healthcare decision making by utilising stringent scientific standards and protocols in the design and development of intervention research.

Health economics and Health Technology Assessment covers a wide spectrum of activities related to the cost-effectiveness and affordability and access of medicines. The tools that can be used in health economics and HTA may differ depending on the perspective, i.e. public vs private healthcare, macro vs micro setting, primary vs tertiary healthcare etc. This module takes a micro-level view of the health economics of a specific healthcare intervention (e.g. a new high cost medicine) rather than that of a healthcare programme (e.g. rolling out a vaccination programme) or healthcare system. However, this module does incorporate all the fundamental principles of health economics so that you will be able to use these in many different settings.

• Understand critical appraisal
• Learn about evaluating Harm
• Learn where Guidelines fit in
• Check list for Economic Evaluations
• Practical examples in Health Economics

Key knowledge for those in the med-tech space who wish to introduce new technologies into South Africa

Introducing new technologies into the South African health care market can be daunting. Funders and other stakeholders manage prioritisation, utilisation, and health care costs through tools such as the Health Technology Assessment (HTA). Medical device registration, FDA certification and CE Mark, are critical quality, safety and efficacy indicators, but are merely authorizations to enter a particular market. They represent an absolute minimum requirement for market access but are not a guarantee for adoption and/or reimbursement. Policy makers and funders demand more!

Despite its market access focus, this course it not exclusively for market access personnel. Every level of business decision-maker will benefit by attending, learning to navigate these hurdles efficiently within resource constrained businesses.