Centre for the Business and Economics of Health

Dr Ruvini Hettiarachchi

Research Fellow
Centre for the Business and Economics of Health
+61 7 3346 1154
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Dr Ruvini Hettiarachchi

About

I’m a Research Fellow at the Centre for the Business and Economics of Health (CBEH) at The University of Queensland. My research expertise mainly focuses on applied health economics and health services research. I’m passionate about identifying healthcare interventions that provide the best value for money and cooperate with consumer preferences for the healthcare decision-making process. I believe consumers and healthcare providers play an important role in designing healthcare interventions more suited to their needs. Part of my research is based on choice modelling, where I can quantify consumers' preferences for different attributes of healthcare services and incorporate them into decision-making processes.

My research covers different areas of health including oral health, mental health, cardiovascular diseases, occupational violence prevention, consumer preferences for cancer follow-up care and emergency services. I collaborate with researchers, clinical experts, qualitative experts, online survey companies and healthcare institutions to evaluate the effectiveness of healthcare interventions in both hospital and community settings. The application of economic evaluations to assess the cost-effectiveness of healthcare interventions benefits policy decisions and provides more effective healthcare services.

Research interests

Health economics: identifying health care interventions with the best value for money and measuring the effectiveness of existing and new health interventions

Consumer preferences and choice modelling: applying choice modelling to understand consumer preferences over different health care characteristics and incorporating choice modelling analysis to design health care based on consumer preferences.

Patient reported outcome measures and health state valuations: development of preference-based measures and utility algorithms to facilitate the outcomes measured in health economic evaluations

Research impact and partnerships 

The oral health preference-based measure and the utility algorithm I developed as part of my PhD is one of the first in oral health research in the world as well as in Australia. This instrument and the utility algorithm will facilitate the economic evaluations of oral health interventions targeted at children and adolescents. Currently, I am working with a Swedish research team undertaking a project to translate and validate the oral health preference-based instrument and inform development of tariffs.

Featured project

Project titleFunding amountDuration
Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee Assessment Unit
Commonwealth Department of Health		Confidential2021 - 2025
Medical Services Advisory Committee assessment unit
Commonwealth Department of Health		Various2022 - 2025

Contact

To discuss research opportunities, please email me or connect with me via Linkedin.

Publications

Journal Articles (16)
Conference Papers (2)
Thesis (1)

Journal Articles

Weerasuriya, Sucharitha R., Hettiarachchi, Ruvini M., Kularatna, Sanjeewa, Rohde, Alexia, Arrow, Peter, Jamieson, Lisa, Tonmukayakul, Utsana and Senanayake, Sameera (2023). Comparison of the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS‐4D) and Child Health Utility Index (CHU‐9D) in children with oral diseases. Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology. doi: 10.1111/cdoe.12917
Yaparathna, Navodika, Hettiarachchi, Ruvini Manjula, Love, Robert, Robb, Nigel D. and Abuzar, Menaka (2023). Impact of Removable Partial Dentures on Masticatory Performance in Partial Edentulism: A Systematic Review. International Journal of Prosthodontics. doi: 10.11607/ijp.8278
Hettiarachchi, Ruvini M., Kularatna, Sanjeewa, Byrnes, Joshua, Mulhern, Brendan, Chen, Gang and Scuffham, Paul A. (2023). Valuing the Dental Caries Utility Index in Australia. Medical Decision Making, 43 (7-8) ARTN 0272989X231197149, 901-913. doi: 10.1177/0272989x231197149
Allen, Michelle J, Doran, Rachael, Brain, David, Powell, Elizabeth E, O’Beirne, James, Valery, Patricia C, Barnett, Adrian, Hettiarachchi, Ruvini, Hickman, Ingrid J and Kularatna, Sanjeewa (2023). A discrete choice experiment to elicit preferences for a liver screening programme in Queensland, Australia: a mixed methods study to select attributes and levels. BMC Health Services Research, 23 (1) 950, 950. doi: 10.1186/s12913-023-09934-2
Kularatna, Sanjeewa, Chen, Gang, Norman, Richard, Mukuria, Clara, Rowen, Donna, Senanayake, Sameera, Hettiarachchi, Ruvini, Mulhern, Brendan, Fozzard, Katie, Parsonage, William and MacPhail, Steven M. (2023). Developing an Australian utility value set for MacNew-7D health states. Quality of Life Research, 32 (4), 1151-1163. doi: 10.1007/s11136-022-03325-6
Kularatna, Sanjeewa, Allen, Michelle, Hettiarachchi, Ruvini M., Crawford-Williams, Fiona, Senanayake, Sameera, Brain, David, Hart, Nicolas H., Koczwara, Bogda, Ee, Carolyn and Chan, Raymond J. (2023). Cancer Survivor Preferences for Models of Breast Cancer Follow-Up Care: Selecting Attributes for Inclusion in a Discrete Choice Experiment. Patient, 16 (4), 371-383. doi: 10.1007/s40271-023-00631-0
Hettiarachchi, Ruvini M., Arrow, Peter, Senanayake, Sameera, Carter, Hannah, Brain, David, Norman, Richard, Tonmukayawul, Utsana, Jamieson, Lisa and Kularatna, Sanjeewa (2022). Developing an Australian utility value set for the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale-4D (ECOHIS-4D) using a discrete choice experiment. European Journal of Health Economics, 24 (8), 1-12. doi: 10.1007/s10198-022-01542-x
Hettiarachchi, Ruvini M., Kularatna, Sanjeewa, Byrnes, Joshua, Chen, Gang, Mulhern, Brendan and Scuffham, Paul A. (2022). Development of a classification (descriptive) system for a preference-based quality of life measure for dental caries (dental caries utility index) among adolescents. Journal of Public Health Dentistry, 82 (3), 253-261. doi: 10.1111/jphd.12490
Kularatna, Sanjeewa, Hettiarachchi, Ruvini, Senanayake, Sameera, Murphy, Ciara, Donovan, Caroline and March, Sonja (2022). Cost-effectiveness analysis of paediatric mental health interventions: a systematic review of model-based economic evaluations. BMC Health Services Research, 22 (1) 542, 1-17. doi: 10.1186/s12913-022-07939-x
Hettiarachchi, Ruvini, Kularatna, Sanjeewa, Byrnes, Joshua, Mulhern, Brendan, Chen, Gang and Scuffham, Paul A (2020). Valuation study for a preference-based quality of life measure for dental caries (Dental Caries Utility Index - DCUI) among Australian adolescents - study protocol. BMJ Open, 10 (10) e038626, e038626. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-038626
Amilani, Uttara, Carter, Hannah E., Senanayake, Sameera, Hettiarachchi, Ruvini M., McPhail, Steven M. and Kularatna, Sanjeewa (2020). A scoping review of cost‐effectiveness analyses of school‐based interventions for caries. Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology, 48 (5), 357-363. doi: 10.1111/cdoe.12553
Bull, Claudia, Byrnes, Joshua, Hettiarachchi, Ruvini and Downes, Martin (2019). A systematic review of the validity and reliability of patient-reported experience measures. Health Services Research, 54 (5), 1023-1035. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.13187
Hettiarachchi, Ruvini M., Kularatna, Sanjeewa, Byrnes, Joshua and Scuffham, Paul A. (2019). Pediatric quality of life instruments in oral health research: a systematic review. Value in Health, 22 (1), 129-135. doi: 10.1016/j.jval.2018.06.019
Hettiarachchi, Pilana Vithanage Kalani Shihanika, Hettiarachchi, Ruvini Manjula, Jayasinghe, Ruwan Duminda and Sitheeque, Mohaideen (2017). Comparison of topical tacrolimus and clobetasol in the management of symptomatic oral lichen planus: a double-blinded, randomized clinical trial in Sri Lanka. Journal of Investigative and Clinical Dentistry, 8 (4), 1-6265. doi: 10.1111/jicd.12237
Hettiarachchi, Ruvini M., Kularatna, Sanjeewa , Downes, Martin J., Byrnes, Joshua, Kroon, Jeroen, Lalloo, Ratilal, Johnson, Newell W. and Scuffham, Paul A. (2017). The cost-effectiveness of oral health interventions: a systematic review of cost-utility analyses. Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology, 46 (2), 118-124. doi: 10.1111/cdoe.12336
Jayasinghe, R.D., Manoja, K.G.D., Gunasinghe, M.S., Gurusinghe, S.K.B., Sitheeque, M.A.M., Hettiarachchi, R.M. and Kularathne, M.S.M. (2016). An analysis of rate and factors affecting malignant transformation of oral submucous fibrosis in patients attending the Oral Medicine Clinic, Dental Hospital Peradeniya, Sri Lanka - A retrospective study. Sri Lanka Journal of Medicine, 24 (2), 3-10. doi: 10.4038/sljm.v24i2.8

Conference Papers

Hettiarachchi, Ruvini, McClurg, Alicia, Wallis, Shannon, Neill, Johanne, Tomlinson, Rebecca and Carter, Hannah E. (2023). Heart Health Hub virtual care pilot program for heart failure patients, Queensland, Australia; A cost consequence study. 44th Annual AHES Conference, Adelaide, SA, Australia, 21-22 September 2023.
Kularatna, S., Chen, G., Senanayake, S., Hettiarachchi, R., Parsonage, W., Norman, R., Mulhern, B., Mukuria, C., Rowen, D. and McPhail, S. (2022). Australian health utility value set for MacNew-7D heart disease-specific measure. 70th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand, Gold Coast, QLD Australia, 11-14 August 2022. Chatswood, NSW Australia: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.hlc.2022.06.063

Thesis

Hettiarachchi, R. M. (2007). Dental caries experience in 3-5 year old children and oral health knowledge and practices of their parents in Nugegoda MOH area. Master's Thesis, Community Dentistry, Post Graduate Institute of Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.