The mission of HEPII, which was established at the Faculty of Economics and Administration of Masaryk University, is to coordinate cutting-edge research and teaching in the field of health economics, health policy, and innovation, from basic research to clinical practice in collaboration with key health institutions. It will be led by economist Jakub Hlávka, who was a professor at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, where he worked on health economics and led several research teams focussing on population aging, access to new drugs, and reimbursement mechanisms.
“Currently, the involvement of economists in healthcare decision-making is very limited. Economists can provide a broader, data-driven view of the costs and benefits of current and new programmes. They can identify which clinical or other interventions - such as prevention - have the greatest potential to reduce the cost of care and improve the quality of life for our country's residents. In addition, better data analysis and its use for decision-making would save patients and health professionals a lot of time,” said Jakub Hlávka, Director of HEPII, commenting on the need for health economics experts.
One topic that the institute's collaborators will be addressing in the coming years is palliative care. Although the quality of this type of care is increasing in the Czech Republic, its availability is still limited. A project funded by the European Union's Horizon Europe programme will enable Masaryk University to contribute to the evaluation of the economic impact of “In-touch” intervention, which consists of targeted work with residents of homes for the elderly suffering from dementia and their family members. Evaluating the costs and benefits of the programme in the proposed randomized trial is crucial for the future reimbursement of targeted interventions from public funds. This type of research has the potential to improve the quality and accessibility of various types of healthcare in the country.
Health economics is a relatively young field – even in the United States, it is only a few decades old. The Czech Republic currently lacks enough experts in this field. Thanks to the initiative of the Faculty of Economics and Administration, a new engineering degree programme in applied health economics is being created to fill this gap in the public, non-profit, and private sectors. The degree programme, which is based on collaboration between six faculties at Masaryk University, is currently going through the accreditation process, and applicants will be able to enrol in 2024.
Programme graduates will find employment in many professional fields – from economists working for insurance companies or health providers, including the largest hospitals, to analysts in government institutions or professionals in the private sector, for example, in biotechnology, diagnostics, or in other types of companies.
The interdisciplinary programme will cover economic methods in healthcare, epidemiology, data analysis, social aspects of population health, understanding biotechnology, and fundamentals of health law and bioethics. During the course of their studies, students will participate in projects and do internships that will provide them with applied healthcare experience in the Czech Republic and abroad. International experts will be involved in teaching; cooperation with universities in Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden is currently being prepared.