Health research plays a crucial role in improving healthcare by providing the evidence needed to inform both clinical and policy decisions. In Australia, spending on health and medical research has grown over the past decade, jumping from A$3.7 billion in 2008 to A$5.6 billion in 2018.
To ensure research budgets are spent wisely, funders must pinpoint those research projects that offer the greatest potential return on investment. At UQ’s Centre for the Business and Economics of Health (CBEH), Associate Professor Haitham Tuffaha is using a powerful quantitative method to assess the value of research.
At a glance
- CBEH researcher Associate Professor Haitham Tuffaha has pioneered the use of a powerful method for the expected value of research.
- Known as value of information (VOI) analysis, the method has been used to develop Australia’s first framework for prioritising clinical trials.
- The approach compares the expected value of a prospective trial with its cost to inform funding decisions.
- VOI analysis could also be used by researchers to demonstrate the value of their research or decide which projects to pursue.
Using value of information analysis to make a decision
Known as value of information (VOI) analysis, the versatile technique can be used to optimise decisions relating to research prioritisation, efficient research design, and adoption of new interventions based on that research.
“Most of the time, we tend to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of interventions or programs,” the current Acting Director of CBEH said. “We rarely look at the value for money of our significant spending on research.”
Decision-makers are often faced with a dilemma: is it time to adopt a new health intervention based on current evidence or is it worth conducting more research to reduce uncertainty? In either case, making the wrong decision can have costly consequences.
“It brings the risk of spending money on low-value research where we don’t get any benefit as a society,” Associate Professor Tuffaha said. “But delaying decisions and waiting for research to happen also has a cost.”
“Known as value of information analysis, the versatile technique can be used to optimise decisions relating to research prioritisation, efficient research design and adoption of new interventions.” – Associate Professor Haitham Tuffaha
This research has resulted in:
- the development of three new value of information methods
- citations in two health economics guidelines in 2020 by the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research
- collaboration with the Australian Clinical Trials Alliance to develop the first Australian framework for clinical trial prioritisation
- recommendations included in the 2021 parliamentary report ‘Approval Processes for new Drugs and Novel Medical Technologies’
- recommendations informing three international health policies by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Asia Policy Forum.
Bringing in a new value-based approach
The VOI approach compares the expected value of a proposed trial with its cost to determine whether funding new research is a worthwhile investment. It considers the uncertainty of current evidence, as well as the consequences of it, and the population that could benefit from the results.
Associate Professor Tuffaha has collaborated with the Australian Clinical Trials Alliance (ACTA) to develop Australia’s first framework for prioritising clinical trials. At a time when investors are increasingly evaluating the value of clinical trials they fund, Dr Fiona Nemeh viewed the VOI approach as a welcome addition to current research prioritisation methods.
“Like any research, it’s usually publicly-funded dollars being spent,” Dr Nemeh said. “There’s a real impetus to spend those dollars in the most effective way possible.”
In 2022, Associate Professor Tuffaha and colleagues at ACTA piloted a VOI-based framework to estimate the return on investment for a prospective clinical trial on an intervention for septic shock. The results showed that, for the clinical trial’s A$2.3million budget, the expected return on investment was A$64.70 for every dollar spent, indicating that funding the trial would be a worthwhile investment.
Associate Professor Tuffaha has also used VOI analysis to demonstrate the value of rural and remote health research. In 2021, a report commissioned by the Spinifex Network, Associate Professor Tuffaha and CBEH colleagues used VOI analysis to assess the return on investment for reducing diet-related cardiovascular disease in rural communities.
The trial’s potential to improve decision-making was A$20.7 million, while the estimated value of its implementation was A$39.5 million. The A$1 million proposed trial would generate A$58 for every dollar invested in the research, indicating the potential to make a significant health and economic impact in regional communities.
Next steps
The next step is to develop a simple, programmable calculator that will enable decision-makers to quickly assess a proposed trial’s potential return on investment. According to Associate Professor Tuffaha, the tool could help researchers demonstrate the value of their proposed research and decide which projects to pursue.
Contact Associate Professor Haitham Tuffaha to discuss potential partnership opportunities at h.tuffaha@uq.edu.au.
