YHEC

Real-world evidence is not a shortcut to causality. In this new blog, Professor Matthew Taylor, CEO of YHEC, argues that the core challenge in healthcare decision making remains unchanged: can we confidently attribute outcomes to interventions? Whether derived from RCTs or observational data, all evidence is vulnerable to bias, including regression to the mean, placebo effects, and confounding. Scale alone does not resolve these issues. Rather than positioning “real-world evidence” as a replacement for trials, Professor Taylor makes the case for integrating evidence sources, with appropriate weighting and transparency, to support more defensible HTA decisions. A timely perspective for those working across health economics and evidence synthesis. Read more: yhec.co.uk/resource/real-… #RealWorldEvidence #EvidenceSynthesis #HTA #HEOR

How do we better measure the quality of life for children with peanut allergies? 🧬 Traditional HRQoL instruments often struggle to capture the full impact of food allergies on children’s mental health and daily routines. A new study addresses this gap by deriving health utilities from the FAQLQ-PF using both mapping and discrete choice experiments (DCE). The research is co-authored by YHEC’s Stuart Mealing, Charlotte Graham and Damian Lewis. The study found that DCE-derived utilities are more responsive to HRQoL changes, providing a more accurate picture for economic evaluations of food allergy interventions. Check out the results: dovepress.com/deriving-healt… #PROMS #FoodAllergy #HRQoL

HTA decision-making is rarely straightforward. This week, YHEC's Professor Matthew Taylor, Hayden Holmes and Stuart Mealing, will be teaching at a face-to-face workshop with distance learning students at the University of York. They will host a mock HTA committee, providing insight into how decisions at National Institute for Health and Care Excellence are informed by multiple perspectives. The session offers students an opportunity to engage with the practical complexities of HTA, and to gain an understanding of the real-world impact of applied health economics.

Sustainability is becoming a key part of the conversation in Saudi healthcare. 🌍 Last week, YHEC’s Melissa Pegg presented at the 4th Formulary Management Conference in Saudi Arabia to support discussions around developing environmental sustainability in HTA. Reflecting on the event, Melissa noted: "A recurring theme throughout the week was the need for formulary decisions to support more sustainable health technology. To do that effectively, we should look at embedding environmental domains alongside traditional clinical and economic domains to help shape the future of innovative and sustainable health technology use in Saudi Arabia." As HTA evolves to consider carbon impacts and planetary health, there is a significant opportunity to collaborate on frameworks like the Saudi Environmental Formulary Assessment Tool (SEFAT) to embed sustainability in decision making. The discussions in Riyadh suggest a clear path forward: advancing sustainable HTA will rely on practical tools, bold collaboration and the recognition that inaction is no longer an option. #FormularyManagement #SaudiHealthcare #HTA #HealthEconomics #Vision2030 #Sustainability

How should health systems balance efficiency with fairness? The growing emphasis on health equity within health technology assessment (HTA) is reshaping how decisions are made globally. Methods such as distributional cost-effectiveness analysis (DCEA) are at the forefront of this shift, helping policymakers move beyond average outcomes to understand who benefits, and who may be left behind. In this roundtable blog, colleagues from YHEC explore: • What we mean by health equity in economic evaluation • How DCEA can quantify trade-offs between maximising population health and reducing inequalities • The practical and methodological challenges of applying these approaches • Why international momentum, from guideline development to HTA practice, signals a clear direction of travel The discussion highlights a critical point: improving overall health is not sufficient if gains are unevenly distributed. 🔗 Read the full discussion: yhec.co.uk/resource/distr… 📅 Interested in learning more? Join our upcoming training course, produced in collaboration with ISPOR, on evaluating health equity in HTA. Find the sign-up link in the blog. #DCEA #HTA #HealthEconomics

What does the evidence really tell us about immunoglobulin replacement therapy in primary immunodeficiency? A new pragmatic review and evidence mapping study, co-authored by YHEC’s Emma Carr, Rachael McCool, Mick Arber and Katie Reddish, takes a comprehensive look at the clinical evidence for about immunoglobulin replacement therapy (IgRT) in primary immunodeficiency disorders (PIDDs). Key insights: • Over 100 studies were identified, reflecting a substantial evidence base • Limited signals of difference in outcomes between IgRT brands • However, variability in study design and reporting limits robust comparative analysis, including indirect treatment comparisons (ITCs) This study highlights an important priority for future research: improving consistency in how studies report patient characteristics, outcomes and follow-up. Strengthening the evidence base in this way will be critical to enabling more informative comparisons and supporting decision-making. Read more: sciencedirect.com/science/articl… #EvidenceSynthesis #PIDDs #IgRT

Can smoking cessation services be designed to reduce health inequalities, not just improve outcomes? A new study co-authored by YHEC’s Harriet Fewster, Robert Malcolm and Hayden Holmes examines this through a distributional cost-effectiveness analysis (DCEA) of integrating smoking cessation into the English Lung Cancer Screening (LCS) programme. The key messages: • The intervention is cost-effective and dominates usual care • It delivers substantial net health benefit (142,035 QALYs) • The greatest gains are seen in the most deprived groups This reinforces an important point for decision-makers: how services are delivered can shape equity as well as efficiency. Read more: tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.10… #HealthEconomics #HealthInequalities #SmokingCessation #DCEA

We’re pleased to share that YHEC’s Director of NHS Consulting, Nick Hex, is speaking today at a parliamentary event on The Future of Sepsis Care. Hosted by sepsis-survivor, Lord Mackinlay of Richborough, the reception brings together clinicians, policymakers, parliamentarians and individuals with lived experience to explore how lasting, system-wide improvements in sepsis care can be achieved. The discussion comes at a pivotal moment, with representation from the Department of Health and Social Care expected to provide an update on the development of a Modern Service Framework (MSF) for sepsis. As MSFs form a central component of the National Health Service 10-year strategy for service transformation, there is growing momentum to ensure that sepsis is prioritised within this approach. Contact us to find out more about our work in this important space: yhec.co.uk/contact-us/

Is it time to move beyond the “minimally important change”? The idea that a single threshold can define meaningful improvement in PROMs is increasingly being challenged. In our latest blog, we draw on our recent publication, analysing 380,000+ NHS records to show that for the Oxford Hip and Knee Scores, what counts as “important” change depends strongly on where patients start. A one-size-fits-all minimally important change risks oversimplifying patient outcomes. Our work contributes to a growing debate calling for a more nuanced, context-sensitive interpretation of PROMs. The direction of travel is clear: greater methodological sophistication is needed to truly reflect the patient voice. 👉 Read more in our latest blog: yhec.co.uk/resource/the-m… #PROMs #PatientCentredCare #OutcomesResearch

Are we modelling diagnostics the right way? Comparing in vitro diagnostics (IVDs) with imaging tests in HTA is methodologically complex and often oversimplified. A new paper in Health Services and Outcomes Research Methodology identifies the key challenges and provides practical recommendations to support more robust health economic modelling of diagnostic technologies. YHEC's Karina Watts, Emily Gregg, Deborah Watkins, Stuart Mealing and Hayden Holmes are co-authors of the research. Drawing on a multi-methods approach, including evidence review, expert workshops, and stakeholder interviews, the work highlights critical issues such as diagnostic pathway complexity, evidence gaps, incidental findings and capacity constraints. The message is clear: without careful methodological consideration, modelling results risk being misleading. 👉 Our recommendations provide a structured, practical framework to improve the validity and credibility of diagnostic evaluations in HTA. Read the full paper: link.springer.com/article/10.100… #HealthEconomics #HTA #Diagnostics #DecisionModelling

What is the economic cost of delayed diagnosis and what is the value of reducing it? For conditions such as endometriosis, diagnostic delay is often discussed as a clinical issue. But it is also an economic one. YHEC's Laura Kelly has co-authored a new study, exploring the potential value of a digital symptom checker for endometriosis. It models whether earlier symptom recognition and care-seeking could improve outcomes and reduce costs. This paper offers an interesting case study in how health economic modelling can be used to evaluate digital interventions in areas where diagnostic delay remains a major unmet need. Read more: nature.com/articles/s4174… Contact us to learn more about how we can help you to understand the economic impact of your health innovation: yhec.co.uk/contact-us/ #HealthEconomics #HEOR #DigitalHealth #Endometriosis

New evidence for a changing GERD treatment landscape We are pleased to share the latest paper in a growing series of research on RefluxStop, co-authored by YHEC’s Sam Harper and Stuart Mealing. This new study evaluates the cost-effectiveness of RefluxStop in Italy for the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), comparing it with current medical and surgical standards of care, including PPIs, laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication, and magnetic sphincter augmentation (MSA). Using a lifetime Markov model from the Italian healthcare payer perspective, the analysis found that RefluxStop is highly likely to be cost-effective, with favourable incremental cost-effectiveness ratios across all comparators and strong results in sensitivity analyses. The findings add to the growing body of evidence supporting the potential clinical and economic value of RefluxStop in GERD management. Read the full paper: link.springer.com/article/10.118… #HealthEconomics #GERD #MedTech

Can we balance patient access to medicines with the urgent need for environmental protection? 🌿 In just one week, YHEC’s Melissa Pegg will be speaking at the 4th Formulary Management Conference in Riyadh. Mel is contributing to the conversation on environmental sustainability within healthcare. Make sure to tune in or attend her sessions on Day 2 of the conference: 🎤 A Call For Action: Safe Environment, Safe Public Health and Sustainable Pharmaceuticals: Environmental Impact and Formularies. 🎤 Developing a Simplified Environmental Formulary Framework in Saudi Arabia. Mel’s sessions will provide actionable insights into how environmental impact can be integrated into formulary frameworks. 📅 14 April at 11:00 AM (AST) 📍 Voco Riyadh Hotel, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia #FormularyManagement #SaudiHealthcare #HTA #HealthEconomics #Vision2030

What does HTA look like when the condition is ultra-rare and the evidence is anything but straightforward? In our latest blog, Stuart Mealing, YHEC Director of Pharmaceutical Consulting, shares his experience as a member of NICE’s Highly Specialised Technologies Evaluation Committee (HSTEC). The blog explores: 🔹 Why ultra-orphan conditions present unique challenges for HTA 🔹 How the HST process differs from conventional NICE appraisals 🔹 Why clinical and patient testimony plays such a critical role 🔹 How committee work is evolving to better reflect the needs of the rare disease community Stuart also offers a personal reflection on what it is like to sit at the table where some of the NHS’s most complex and high-stakes decisions are made. For anyone working in rare diseases, HTA, market access or evidence generation, this is a valuable insight into the realities of decision-making in one of the most challenging areas of assessment. 👉 Read the blog here: yhec.co.uk/resource/a-sea… #RareDiseases #UltraOrphan #MarketAccess #HealthEconomics

Happy birthday YHEC! 🎉 01 April 2026 marks 40 years of YHEC: four decades of research, collaboration and contribution to healthcare decision-making. Over the years, YHEC has grown and evolved, but our focus has remained the same: producing robust evidence and high-quality research that helps answer important questions in healthcare. As we celebrate this milestone, we’re taking the opportunity to reflect on the people, partnerships and projects that have shaped YHEC over the years. We’re proud of our past, and excited for what’s still to come. Keep up with all our news via our blog: yhec.co.uk/resources-and-… #40YearsOfYHEC #HealthEconomics #HEOR #EvidenceBasedMedicine

The NICE–MHRA aligned pathway launches tomorrow, marking an important development for medicines access in England. Designed to better align regulatory approval and health technology assessment, the new pathway aims to reduce delays between licensing and NICE guidance, helping patients access new medicines sooner. Key changes include: 🔹 Reducing the 90-day gap NICE aims to publish guidance at the same time as MHRA marketing authorisation, rather than following it by up to 90 days. 🔹 Earlier appraisal activity NICE appraisal committee meetings may now take place in public before marketing authorisation is granted, with draft recommendations published earlier where appropriate. 🔹 Joint scientific advice A new integrated scientific advice service will support companies in developing evidence plans that meet both regulatory and HTA requirements. If you would like to discuss what this could mean for your product, portfolio, or evidence strategy, contact us: yhec.co.uk/contact-us/. #HEOR #MarketAccess #MHRA #NICE

From discussion to action: What’s next for sustainable healthcare? 🌍 Sustainability will be the defining topic of the next decade in our industry. Last week at #DIAEurope2026, YHEC’s Melissa Pegg joined global colleagues to move the conversation forward in two key sessions on HTA and the medicines lifecycle. The energy in Rotterdam made one thing clear: we have the ideas, now we need the implementation. Hear Mel’s reflection on the week: "Alongside DIA colleagues who are calling for holistic yet pragmatic action, the conference spotlighted the urgent need to move beyond discussion and into action. By piloting practical approaches and methods now, we can drive the measurable, system-wide progress needed for more sustainable healthcare innovation and delivery." It was fantastic to collaborate with so many peers committed to driving real change. Now, it’s time to put those methods into practice. Ready to integrate environmental sustainability into your HTA strategy? Contact us at: yhec.co.uk/contact-us/ #DIAEurope #Sustainability #HTA #Pharma #GreenHealth #HealthcareInnovation

It is great to see the publication of the new UK EQ-5D-5L value set in Value in Health. For those working across HEOR, HTA and market access, this is an important development for the UK evidence landscape. Value sets are central to how EQ-5D data are converted into health state utility values, with direct implications for utility estimates, QALY calculations and cost-effectiveness analysis. What makes this especially significant is the strength of the underlying research: 1,200 interviews with a representative UK sample, robust contemporary methods, and independent quality checks throughout. This is more than a methodological update, it has real relevance for how treatments, interventions and services are evaluated in the UK. A valuable step forward for evidence-based decision-making in healthcare. Want to discuss what this means? Get in touch with us: yhec.co.uk/contact-us/ Read the publication here: valueinhealthjournal.com/article/S1098-… #HEOR #HTA #EQ5D #HealthEconomics #OutcomesResearch

Better outcomes, lower costs? New evidence on continuous pressure monitoring We are delighted to share a new paper co-authored by YHEC’s Sam Harper and Ciara Buckley. The study models the cost-effectiveness of continuous pressure monitoring (CPM) for patients at risk of acute compartment syndrome following tibial diaphyseal fracture. From a UK NHS perspective, the analysis suggests CPM could deliver savings of £452 per patient, reduce hospital stay by 2,733 bed days per 1,000 patients, and improve quality-adjusted life year outcomes compared with standard diagnostic approaches. These findings provide early evidence that CPM may be a valuable and cost-effective diagnostic adjunct in this setting. #HealthEconomics #Orthopaedics #NHS Read more: doi.org/10.1016/j.inju…