Towards a European consensus on conducting and reporting health economic evaluations--a report from the ISPOR Inaugural European Conference.

This report is a summary of key issues in consensus development regarding the conduct and reporting of health economic research in the European context, presented and discussed at the ISPOR Inaugural European Conference in Cologne, Germany, December 1998. Recommendations of the Harmonization by Consensus of the Methodology for Economic Evaluation of Health Care Technologies in the European Union (HARMET) project were presented, as well as two instruments under development: software for Reporting Economic Evaluation Results (REER) and software for collecting and managing cost data called the Health Cost Database Software (HCDS). Working independently, but interrelated with the objectives of the HARMET initiative, preliminary results from the ongoing European Network on Methodology and Application of Economic Evaluation Techniques (EUROMET) project were presented. Each presentation was followed by an expert discussion panel with audience participation. Issues raised included the development of standards and related topics such as usefulness to European decision-makers, and education and training in health economics in Europe.