Economics of Innovation and Digital Health
Understanding the economic impact of technological, organisational and digital innovation in healthcare requires understanding how markets, incentives, regulation, and institutions shape innovation, adoption, and diffusion across the health system. This includes understanding the broader economic forces driving innovation and its consequences, including distributional effects and unintended consequences as technologies diffuse.
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Economics of digital health: platforms, data, and AI
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R&D and innovation incentives: including regulatory approval pathways
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Procurement, funding, and reimbursement design specifically for new and emerging technologies
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Diffusion and adoption dynamics
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Changing economics of the health workforce and clinical practice as new technologies are introduced.
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Build capacity by:
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Creating a network of academics in the field, policy analysts and multidisciplinary collaborators (healthcare professionals, computer scientists, legal experts) working on innovation and digitalisation.
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Identifying evidence gaps and research priorities.
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Fostering collaboration in methodological development to be used across themes within the economics of innovation and digitalisation.
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Facilitating joint research, grant applications and special journal/conference/government inquiry submissions.
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Coordinate with iHEA/ISPOR to enhance international participation in the Asia-Pacific area.
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Support dissemination and translation of accessible outputs (policy briefs/webinars) to inform health system decision-makers
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Promote equity and diversity by prioritising inclusive participation from underrepresented areas and career stages. Including providing targeted mentoring to PhD students and ECRs.
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WebinarsWebinar (1): Focus on academic work from ECRs – presentations with senior feedback. Including methodology workshops/skill-building activities.Webinar (2): Focus on translation. Invited speakers from multidisciplinary fields, consumers, policy, industry, and government to participate in panel discussions or policy roundtables that lead to policy briefs or translational outputs.
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Abstract writing support for PhD students and ECRs: Dates to match submission deadlines to key conferences.
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Establish “Best Australian Paper in Digital Health Economics” award.
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Newsletter (twice a year): includes policy briefs, spotlight for one researcher, and news on publications/presentations/
engagement or impact/upcoming events.
Conveners
Susan is an economist with a special interest in competition policy, innovation, and the organisation and regulation of healthcare markets. She conducts theory-motivated and policy-relevant research by using state-of-the-art empirical tools, combined with confidential and large datasets from survey and administrative sources.
She is committed to fostering informed discussions on public policy and actively engages with government, private industry, and community groups.
Daniel is a Professor at the Centre for Health Economics Research and Evaluation (CHERE) at UTS and an internationally acclaimed leader in the fields of health economics, applied econometrics, and policy evaluation. Daniel's research interests comprise the empirical analysis of topics relating to the production, financing and organisation of health care systems. He has more than 15 years of experience in working with register-based administrative and clinical quality data from Sweden, Germany, and Australia and expertise in applying micro-econometric methods for causal analysis for economic research and policy evaluation.
Milena Lewandowska, PhD, is a researcher at the Centre for Health Economics Research and Evaluation, University of Technology Sydney. Her research focuses on the economic evaluation and health technology assessment of digital health and artificial intelligence (AI)-based technologies.
Her PhD examined the adoption and valuation of AI in healthcare using stated preference methods, including discrete choice experiments and best–worst scaling. Her research interests include generating evidence to support the evaluation and implementation of digital health and AI technologies, with a particular focus on user preferences, healthcare system value, and technology adoption.
Dr Feby Savira is a Research Fellow and Deputy Lead of the Effective and Efficient Health Systems Stream at Deakin Health Economics, Deakin University. Her research applies health economics methods, including economic evaluation and discrete choice experiments, to the co-design, evaluation and optimisation of digital health-assisted models of care, with a focus on rural, disability, and other underserved populations. She is co-embedded with the Western Victoria Primary Health Network, ensuring her research directly informs primary care service design and reform, and she works closely with health services, government, and industry partners.
Dr Cornell is a Senior Research Fellow in the University of Melbourne's Centre for Digital Transformation of Health and the Centre for Health Policy. Her research program centres on optimising the health care of older Australians through equitable access to digital health. She studies real-world evaluation and cost-effectiveness of virtually supported models of care. She often uses applied methods from economics to estimate causal effects using non-experimental data.
Dr Cornell's projects have included studies of patient portals, remote patient monitoring to manage chronic disease, and economic evaluation of machine learning tools to support personalised cancer care. Prior to moving to Australia, Dr Cornell was an assistant professor of health services, policy, and practice at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and a research scientist at the US Veterans Health Administration. There, she studied interventions to address social risks in health, care and quality of care in nursing homes and assisted living communities, and the economics of long-term care insurance.
Dr Cornell is a Senior Research Fellow in the University of Melbourne's Centre for Digital Transformation of Health and the Centre for Health Policy. Her research program centres on optimising the health care of older Australians through equitable access to digital health. She studies real-world evaluation and cost-effectiveness of virtually supported models of care. She often uses applied methods from economics to estimate causal effects using non-experimental data.
Dr Cornell's projects have included studies of patient portals, remote patient monitoring to manage chronic disease, and economic evaluation of machine learning tools to support personalised cancer care. Prior to moving to Australia, Dr Cornell was an assistant professor of health services, policy, and practice at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and a research scientist at the US Veterans Health Administration. There, she studied interventions to address social risks in health, care and quality of care in nursing homes and assisted living communities, and the economics of long-term care insurance.