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December
5th Health Services Research and Policy Conference: Listening to the Past, Looking to the Future - How can Health Services Research contribute to assessing fads and fashions in health policy and practice?
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Dates: 2-5 December 2007
Abstract submission deadline: 11 July 2007
Venue: Langham Hotel
There are always new ideas around about what will make health services more effective, efficient, and equitable but how many are backed by evidence or have been shown to work as well as their protagonists would have us believe? This conference will provide a perfect end-of-year opportunity for researchers, policymakers, managers, and practitioners from New Zealand, Australia and other countries to get together and consider the extent to which past innovations have lived up to expectations and to examine whether ideas now being touted as solutions for health services are supported by evidence.
For more information please visit: http://www.healthservicesconference.com.au/
December 2, 2007: Health Research
December
Cost Function Analysis of the Substance Abuse Treatment Industry: Information Needs, Methods, and Next Steps
Location: Bethesda, Maryland, USA
Dates: 13-14 December 2007
Venue: Hyatt Regency Bethesda
The purpose of this meeting is to bring together a small number of scientists and other interested parties to stimulate scholarly, policy-relevant research on substance abuse treatment delivery costs (DCs) from an industry perspective. Given NIH’s mandate to reduce the rate at which health care costs increase there is an emphasis on finding ways to increase efficiency and effectiveness. Given the wide range of estimates in the literature of cost-per-case for the same treatment modalities, it is possible that there are efficiency gains to be realized in the production of substance abuse treatment.
One way to analyze these issues is cost function analysis, a tool that has been used widely in the study of other health care industries but rarely to analyze substance abuse treatment. Little is actually known about the cost structure of the substance abuse treatment industry, for example whether small facilities have average costs lower than larger facilities. We do not fully understand the effects on costs due to variations in client mix, the implementation of evidence-based practices, and alternative organizational structures and business practices. Such information could inform policies and practices aimed at improving quality of care, broadening access, and lowering treatment costs.
More information on the meeting, including the preliminary agenda and instructions for registration, is available at http://www.sei2003.com/NIDA.
December 13, 2007: Health Economics
Cost Function Analysis of the Substance Abuse Treatment Industry: Information Needs, Methods, and Next Steps
Location: Bethesda, Maryland, USA
Dates: 13-14 December 2007
Venue: Hyatt Regency Bethesda
The purpose of this meeting is to bring together a small number of scientists and other interested parties to stimulate scholarly, policy-relevant research on substance abuse treatment delivery costs (DCs) from an industry perspective. Given NIH’s mandate to reduce the rate at which health care costs increase there is an emphasis on finding ways to increase efficiency and effectiveness. Given the wide range of estimates in the literature of cost-per-case for the same treatment modalities, it is possible that there are efficiency gains to be realized in the production of substance abuse treatment. One way to analyze these issues is cost function analysis, a tool that has been used widely in the study of other health care industries but rarely to analyze substance abuse treatment. Little is actually known about the cost structure of the substance abuse treatment industry, for example whether small facilities have average costs lower than larger facilities. We do not fully understand the effects on costs due to variations in client mix, the implementation of evidence-based practices, and alternative organizational structures and business practices. Such information could inform policies and practices aimed at improving quality of care, broadening access, and lowering treatment costs.
More information on the meeting, including the preliminary agenda and instructions for registration, is available at http://www.sei2003.com/NIDA.