Policy decision making and outcomes research in drug utilization

Health-care systems all over the world tend to be under permanent review and policy decision making is increasingly driven only by political decisions concerning resource allocation. Drug utilization is a major concern within policy decision making, of relevance to and sometimes even bridging both the pharmaceutical industry and medical community. Outcomes and effectiveness research emphasizes the accountability of the health-care delivery system and focuses on the medium and long-term results of treatment and preventive interventions. With increasing health-care costs and growing concerns about the quality of care, appropriate health outcome measures are essential for assessing the quality, necessity, and effectiveness of health care. These outcome measures are reviewed addressing the influence of evidenced-based medicine and discussing the underlying methods which are applied throughout Europe and the US for reimbursement purposes and application procedures in drug utilization management.