PBS Publications
Manual of Resource Items and Their Associated Costs for use in submissions to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee involving economic evaluation
Introduction
>>Contents
>> Preface
>> Introduction
>> General principles
>> How to use this manual
>> Drugs
>> Medical services
>> Diagnostic/Investigational services
>> Hospital services
>> Community-based services
>> Variation to unit costs
From the beginning of 1993, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) has required submissions for the listing of a new drug on the PBS to incorporate an economic as well as a clinical evaluation. The PBAC has also endorsed Guidelines for the conduct of economic evaluations and financial analyses. These are also available from the Pharmaceutical Evaluation Section (PES) of the Department of Health and Ageing.
In order to ensure consistency and comparability, both within and between major submissions to the PBAC and over time, it is essential that major submissions to the PBAC use consistent measures of medical and other health-related services relevant to drug therapies, and cost (or price) them in a consistent manner. This Manual of Resource Items and their Associated Costs has been developed to ensure such consistency and is to be used by pharmaceutical companies in preparing economic evaluations.
This Manual has been designed as a result of a study of the range of medical and other health-related services which may be affected by the introduction of new drugs to the PBS. The services included in the Manual are based upon economic evaluations and financial analyses conducted in Australia and overseas, and refined during discussions with pharmaceutical companies and medical professionals involved in clinical trials of drugs. The principles adopted in determining the prices of services are similarly based on economic protocols established overseas in economic evaluations, within the context of readily available and suitable data in Australia.
This Manual is a dynamic document. That is, it is subject to ongoing review and periodic updating. As prices change and new data sources become available, the Manual will change. Users of the Manual and other interested parties are encouraged to contribute to, and participate in, this process of change and improvement. Any suggestions on ways in which the Manual may be improved are welcome, and inquires about any aspects of its contents or use should be forwarded to:
The Pharmaceutical Evaluation Section
MDP 83
Department of Health and Ageing
GPO Box 9848
Canberra ACT 2601
Email: pbs@health.gov.au: attention PES
