Health Financing and Economic Research Division

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The Health Financing and Economic Research Division (HFERD) is founded on the postulate that policy makers and managers need good information on the effectiveness, efficiency and equity of the health system. Health economics is becoming increasingly influential in decisions about redistribution of the resources, and how limited budgets should be allocated to improve health of the population. Decision makers require good information to facilitate decisions about financing health services including decisions about how to allocate and spend funds, issues of sustainability, dealing with other government agencies, the private sector and non-governmental agencies, regulating, monitoring and evaluating the performance of health providers. By design, the areas of financing and economic research are closely linked to the needs of the National Health Financing Authority (NHFA) when the latter has been formalised. The Institute shall support NHFA in undertaking research works, either in the form of collaborative research or outsourcing. On the other hand, because the NHFA, as a statutory body, is under the jurisdiction of the MOH, the Health Economic and Financing Division of Institute for HSR can also assist the MOH in monitoring and evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of the NHFA. Moreover, the Institute will also support the MOH in the development and evaluation of the Malaysia National Health Accounts (MNHA).

• To contribute to the development of the theory, methods and applications of health economics in relation to addressing specific policy relevant questions such as equity, efficiency, cost effectiveness, cost benefit and others.
• To promote, coordinate and conduct basic and applied health economics research.
• To introduce the perspectives of health economics to policy development and evaluation through educational programmes and consultancy services.

• Economic evaluation studies in cost analysis, cost effectiveness analysis, cost benefit analysis and cost utility analysis e.g. for interventions of various important diseases, with a view to prioritise coverage of health services under a new health financing scheme; economic analysis of the use of fiscal policies on addictive products such as tobacco and alcohol; economic analysis of hazardous to health and environmentally unfriendly manufacturing agriculture practices such as pig farming and timber processing
• Economic evaluation of components of health systems - e.g. demand for health care econometric analysis; assessment of efficiency of public and private health care facilities; activity-based unit costing studies to aid development of fee schedule
• Economic evaluation of management alternatives on health system - e.g. economic evaluation of privatisation of non-clinical hospital support services; economic evaluation of privatisation
• Development of standardised methodologies and tools to assess costs, effectiveness, benefits and quality of care/service
• Economic research to study resource allocation questions throughout the entire health sector and to answer questions ranging from "micro" studies of managerial efficiency within producing units to "macro" policy analysis of major changes in arrangements for financing health services. These studies shall utilise economic theory in relation to health, quantitative methods and econometrics
• Impact studies of different health financing package including private health insurance, in various aspects including cost and quality of care
• Studies on regulation and control of health financing alternatives
• Studies on trends of health expenditure of special populations (urban, rural, workforce etc)
• Development and institutionalisation of means testing methods for health care to identify vulnerable group
• Benefit incidence analysis based on the National Health Account Project