Christian_Boehler

The 6th event of the Vienna Evaluation Network took place on Monday, October 22, 2018 at 4-5.30pm

TOPIC: Transferring evaluation results for evidence-based decision making in other contexts by Christian Boehler

View or download the slides (PDF): Boehler_VENSlides_22Oct2018

Transferring evaluation results from one context to another may support more timely decision making and can help to invest evaluation resources more efficiently. However, the key question is whether decision makers can rely on evidence that has originally been produced for another context.This presentation explores how to transfer (if at all) findings from evaluation studies and how to identify factors to determine the circumstances under which evidence transfer may be appropriate.

A case evaluation on the use of statins for preventing coronary artery disease will illustrate the problem and outline a statistical approach for analyzing factors that may cause variation in evaluation outcomes. Results suggest that substantial variability within and between evaluation studies relates to variation in methods rather than differences in national context.  However, low country-level variation might say little about the true commonality of evaluation results in different settings. Decision makers ought to be careful when relying on transferred evidence when allocating scarce resources between alternative causes of action, as study results may not be applicable to the context of interest.

Christian Boehler works as a health economist at the UN-affiliated European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research in Vienna, Austria. He has years of experience in the economic evaluation of innovative health and care technologies, and his main research interests relate to the economics of eHealth as well as active and healthy ageing.  Between 2013 and 2016, he was the principal investigator of the MAFEIP project at the European Commissions‘ Joint Research Centre (DG-JRC-IPTS) in Seville (Spain), where he was in charge of developing a Monitoring and Assessment Framework for the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing.

Christian completed his PhD in health economics at Brunel Universities’ Health Economics Research Group (HERG) in London. His thesis addressed the geographic transferability of economic evaluations for evidence-based decision making in other contexts. He is a honorary lecturer at the University of Sheffield, School of Health & Related Research/Health Economics and Decision Sciences, and he worked as an external consultant towards the NICE Single Technology Appraisal Programme.

VEN events generally start with a presentation by the guest speaker. Thereafter, the participants have time to ask questions, discuss the topic, and exchange experiences, followed by informal networking and conversations.

WHEN: Monday,  October 22, 2018, 4-5.30pm

WHERE: The venue is Berggasse 17, the third-floor conference room of the European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research. Please cross the courtyard to find the entrance left in front of you.