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Aversion to health inequalities in healthcare prioritisation: A multicriteria optimisation perspective

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  • Morton, Alec

Abstract

In this paper we discuss the prioritisation of healthcare projects where there is a concern about health inequalities, but the decision maker is reluctant to make explicit quantitative value judgements and the data systems only allow the measurement of health at an aggregate level. Our analysis begins with a standard welfare economic model of healthcare resource allocation. We show how – under the assumption that the healthcare projects under consideration have a small impact on individual health – the problem can be reformulated as one of finding a particular subset of the class of efficient solutions to an implied multicriteria optimisation problem. Algorithms for finding such solutions are readily available, and we demonstrate our approach through a worked example of treatment for clinical depression.

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  • Morton, Alec, 2014. "Aversion to health inequalities in healthcare prioritisation: A multicriteria optimisation perspective," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 164-173.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:36:y:2014:i:c:p:164-173
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2014.04.005
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    Cited by:

    1. Hansen, Kristian S. & Moreno-Ternero, Juan D. & Østerdal, Lars P., 2023. "Productivity and quality-adjusted life years: QALYs, PALYs and beyond," Working Papers 11-2023, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Economics.
    2. Tommi Ekholm & Erin Baker, 2022. "Multiple Beliefs, Dominance and Dynamic Consistency," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(1), pages 529-540, January.
    3. Özlem Karsu & Alec Morton, 2021. "Trading off health and financial protection benefits with multiobjective optimization," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(1), pages 55-69, January.
    4. Morton, Alec & Thomas, Ranjeeta & Smith, Peter C., 2016. "Decision rules for allocation of finances to health systems strengthening," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 97-108.
    5. Gutjahr, Walter J., 2021. "Inequity-averse stochastic decision processes," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 288(1), pages 258-270.
    6. Jian Zhou & Chuhan Wang & Xinyu Zhang & Shuang Wang, 2022. "Public Health System and Socio-Economic Development Coupling Based on Systematic Theory: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-14, October.
    7. Karsu, Özlem & Morton, Alec & Argyris, Nikos, 2018. "Capturing preferences for inequality aversion in decision support," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 264(2), pages 686-706.
    8. Sebastian Rachuba & Brigitte Werners, 2017. "A fuzzy multi-criteria approach for robust operating room schedules," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 251(1), pages 325-350, April.
    9. Morton, Alec & Arulselvan, Ashwin & Thomas, Ranjeeta, 2018. "Allocation rules for global donors," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 67-75.
    10. Hansen, Kristian S. & Moreno-Ternero, Juan D. & Østerdal, Lars P., 2024. "Quality- and productivity-adjusted life years: From QALYs to PALYs and beyond," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    11. Fuhmei Wang & Jung-Der Wang & Yu-Wen Hung, 2018. "Universal health insurance, health inequality and oral cancer in Taiwan," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(10), pages 1-13, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Health inequalities; Mathematical programming; Multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA); Healthcare prioritisation; Healthcare resource allocation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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