New network aims to unite implementation scientists and health economists
3 April 2025
A new network will bring together implementation scientists, health economists and beyond to collaborate and develop better methods. Led by researchers from Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow and Melbourne, ImplementEcon will forge new connections between the two disciplines.
It aims to connect researchers, including implementation scientists, health economists, and those from other fields, health and care professionals, and public contributors.
Implementation science is the study of how treatments are put into regular use. Good implementation science involves health economics, which is the study of how to make better use of scarce resources to improve health outcomes.
But implementation science and health economics aren’t well-coordinated and don’t have a history of collaboration. Many implementation science studies don’t make good use of health economics.
This leaves important questions unanswered. For example:
What happens when patients don’t get the treatments they need?
What are the key treatments to put into practice?
Should we invest to ensure treatments reach patients?
Will this reduce the differences between some people getting treatment and others not (inequalities)?
Bringing implementation science and health economics methods together could help answer these important questions. This is where ImplementEcon comes in.
Carlos Sillero-Rejon, NIHR ARC West researcher and one of the founders of ImplementEcon, said:
“I am excited to have got this network off the ground. As a health economist, I can see the huge potential in bringing these two academic disciplines together. We are looking forward to getting started!”