Identifying health economic competencies for quality improvement practitioners and educators: a mixed-methods study.

Area of Science:

• Health Economics
• Quality Improvement
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Limited health economic evaluation competencies exist in healthcare education and management.
• Existing competencies often lack focus on equity and assessment of competence.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify health economic evaluation competencies for quality improvement (QI) practice and education in Ireland.
• To guide the development of essential competencies for healthcare professionals and managers.

Main Methods:

• A parallel mixed-methods design integrating a rapid literature review and surveys of healthcare leaders and scholars in Ireland.
• Surveys assessed knowledge, skills, and experiences with health economics in quality and safety management.

Main Results:

• Few respondents had received health economics training or measured healthcare costs, value for money, or budget impact.
• Barriers included terminology and inadequate data infrastructure.
• Refined competencies focus on understanding cost-quality relationships, assessing QI initiative costs/outcomes, and applying cost-effectiveness analysis.

Conclusions:

• Health economic competencies are essential for healthcare professionals' and managers' education and development.
• Integrating these competencies can enhance quality improvement initiatives and decision-making in Irish healthcare.