Coming up next week:
Cost-Effectiveness: The Basics
Thursday, April 9 at 12:00 PM PT
Learn to evaluate whether a health intervention delivers good value.
Open to everyone. Free.
caphegroup.org/programs
When a county health officer asks "is this program worth the cost?" they are asking a health economics question.
We train practitioners to answer it with evidence.
caphegroup.org
QALY: quality-adjusted life year. One year of perfect health = 1 QALY.
This metric allows us to compare interventions across different diseases and conditions.
caphegroup.org/methods-lab
Today at 11 AM PT: Timothy Brown (UC Berkeley) on public health spending and hospitalizations.
CAPHE members: caphegroup.org
Epidemiologists, program managers, and policy analysts all make economic arguments. Often without economic training.
That is the gap we fill.
caphegroup.org/membership
Missed our Introduction to Health Economics webinar?
The full recording covers scarcity, opportunity cost, marginal analysis, and economic evaluation frameworks.
Watch free: https://youtu.be/T7haJyoGi6k
Our webinar recordings are free. No login required.
Introduction to Health Economics (Feb 2026):
https://youtu.be/T7haJyoGi6k
caphegroup.org/recordings
Two analysts. Same dataset. Opposite policy recommendations. How?
Our Methods Lab module on this walks through how analytic choices drive conclusions, even with identical data. Interactive, free, and built for practitioners.
caphegroup.org/methods-lab/identical-data-opposite-policies/
Health economics applies to prevention, treatment, and policy.
How much does a diabetes prevention program save? How do we compare vaccination strategies? What is the value of clean air regulation?
These are health economics questions.
One week away: Timothy Brown (UC Berkeley) on the return on public health spending on hospitalizations.
Wednesday, March 25 at 11 AM PT. CAPHE members only.
caphegroup.org/join
Economic evaluation is a skill. Like any skill, it improves with practice.
Methods Lab modules provide structured practice with California public health data.
caphegroup.org/methods-lab
What is the difference between cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis?
CEA: dollars per outcome (cost per life saved).
CBA: net dollars gained or lost.
Both are useful. They answer different questions.
caphegroup.org/methods-lab
What makes a good ROI case for a health program?
Three elements: clearly defined costs, measurable outcomes, and a credible comparison.
Our calculator walks through each step.
caphegroup.org/tools/lha-calculator
Hal Varian wrote a short guide on where research ideas come from: newspapers, conversations, observation. Not journals.
For those of us in LHDs, the best evaluation questions come from site visits, county data, and intake forms.
people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~hal/Papers/how.pdf
One month until our next webinar.
Cost-Effectiveness: The Basics
Thursday, April 9 at 12:00 PM PT
No prerequisites. Open to everyone.
caphegroup.org/programs
New NBER paper: children entering preschool earlier are 17% more likely to receive an ADHD diagnosis by age four.
The mechanism is structured observation, not the conditions themselves. Preschool as unintentional health screener.
Marginal analysis asks: what does one more unit cost, and what does it produce?
This is how we evaluate whether to expand a program or redirect resources.
caphegroup.org/methods-lab
CAPHE Member Event: The Return on Public Health Spending on Hospitalizations
Wed March 25 | 11 AM PT | Virtual
Timothy Brown (UC Berkeley) on how public health investments reduce hospitalization costs.
Open to CAPHE members: caphegroup.org/join
New in JAMA Network Open: public transit to opioid treatment programs takes five times longer than driving. In urban areas, the average is 38 minutes each way.
Methadone requires daily in-person visits. Over half of census block groups studied lack adequate transit access to reach a clinic.
For…
UCLA evaluated LA's CARE+ program, the city's flagship approach to homeless encampments.
For every one person connected with services, five were displaced. More than a third of respondents moved five or more times in a single month.
When we evaluate homeless services programs in our counties,…
California has 61 local health jurisdictions. Each makes resource allocation decisions.
Our goal: make sure economic evidence informs those decisions.
caphegroup.org/about
Opportunity cost: every dollar spent on one program is a dollar not spent on another.
This concept drives most resource allocation decisions in public health.
caphegroup.org/methods-lab
Peer Review Sessions: bring a draft analysis and get structured feedback from health economists.
Free for Community Members.
caphegroup.org/programs#peer-review
CAPHE is a learning collaborative for economists and public health practitioners in California government.
We share research, host author talks, and build Methods Lab modules for applied evaluation. Membership is free.
If this describes the work we do: caphegroup.org/join
Our ROI Calculator helps program managers build economic cases for local health programs.
Input costs and outcomes. Get a return-on-investment estimate.
No economics degree needed.
caphegroup.org/tools/lha-calculator
A program reduces ER visits. Does that mean we should fund it?
Not necessarily. Effectiveness alone does not tell us whether a program is worth the cost. Our Methods Lab module on cost-effectiveness walks through why, with California examples.
caphegroup.org/methods-lab/why-it-works-isnt-enough/
APHA 2026 is in San Antonio, November 1-4. Abstract deadline: March 31.
If our members are working on California public health economics research, this is a good venue. Membership is not required to submit.
apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Why do health economists matter in public health departments?
Budget decisions happen with or without economic analysis. Better analysis leads to better allocation.
caphegroup.org/about
Free Webinar: Cost-Effectiveness: The Basics
Thursday, April 9
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM PT
An introduction to cost-effectiveness analysis and its application in public health decision-making.
Open to everyone.
Register: caphegroup.org/programs
Our community members include epidemiologists, program managers, health officers, and policy analysts.
Community membership is free. Access Methods Lab, webinars, and peer review sessions.
caphegroup.org/membership