My work at HMRI involves the practical application of health economics. Often evaluation of health and medical interventions is focused on demonstrating efficacy and safety. The application of health economics informs questions about the cost effectiveness and value of the intervention. Addressing these questions is important for informing investment and disinvestment decisions.
Along with my economist colleagues, I am also involved with developing and applying techniques to measure the broader impact from funded translational health and medical research. Increasingly, researchers are required to demonstrate the return on investment from funded research. Our own research suggests economics has a significant role in both the measurement and promotion of research translation.
My goal is to increase awareness of the value health economics brings to health and medical research. Health technology assessment is crucial for ensuring the optimal efficiency and effectiveness of our healthcare system and embedding health economics in evaluations of programs, models of care and new technologies will help achieve that.
Associate Professor Penny Reeves joined the HRE team at HMRI in 2014, transitioning back into academia following a career as an applied economist in both government and with the private biotech industry in the UK and in Australia. She completed a PhD in health economics in 2021.
In 2019, she assumed the role of team lead, directly responsible for the operations of the HRE team and is currently acting Associate Director. Associate Professor Reeves is engaged in a broad spectrum of applied economics and health services research including the integration of economics and implementation science, the development and application of novel micro-costing methods and the refinement of economic measures to assess and value research translation and impact.
Associate Professor Reeves is a regular advisor to local and state health administrators and researchers on issues related to health technology assessment and the promotion of impact assessment
