Post-event Report

SHORT MODULE: Modelling Techniques in Health Technology Assessment

 Date: 17 – 21 May 2021

Time: 2pm – 9pm (SGT)

Written by Jamaica Briones

Summary

In line with the goal to scale up the analytical skills of Health Technology Assessment (HTA) researchers in the region, Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health (SSHSPH) brought together two distinguished professors to conduct an intensive course on HTA modelling techniques on 17-21 May 2021.

The course was divided into two parts. Associate Professor Alex Cook of SSHSPH gave a worldview on several modelling techniques, such as survival and partition survival analysis, and dynamic transmission modelling. The interactive session toggled between theoretical lectures and practical exercises on parameterizing and building models through the R software.

The second half of the course was conducted by Professor Alec Morton as a guest lecturer from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland. His lecture laid the groundwork on discrete event simulation (DES), where he highlighted its advantages in capturing a higher level of detail and accuracy while also enabling the integration of capacity or resource details.

In the practical sessions, participants were clustered into small groups for focused guidance on the essential know-how in building simulation models using two softwares. For the infectious disease segment, participants were asked to develop a model on how to prioritise COVID-19 vaccination on target groups using the R software. In terms of DES, participants built models to simulate hospital bed capacity constraint scenarios using the Simul8 program. Results of which illustrate ways in managing hospital bed constraints as seen during the pandemic. These COVID-19 related examples allow participants to reflect on how results of simulation models can directly apply to health policy decisions.

With the ever-evolving research field, the advanced modelling course exemplified ways on how to model complex HTA research questions and addressed the limitations of conventional modelling techniques.