Choosing the right software for HTA economic models: a comparison of four programmes recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
Wright A, Embleton N, Langham S. Choosing the right software for HTA economic models: a comparison of four programmes recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Value Health 2018;21(Suppl 3):S380
Abstract
Objectives: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), in their recent guide to health technology appraisal (HTA), state that Excel, Treeage, ‘R’ or WinBUGS/OpenBUGS are acceptable software for economic models for submissions. We compared each of the software programmes, in the context of developing more complex HTA models, using a range of HTA, user and scientific community relevant criteria.
Methods: We compared each software programme on the following criteria: HTA categories of reproducibility (ease of replication) and transparency (ease of validation); User-relevant criteria of software cost, technical capability, processing speed and learning curve. We added a third category, scientific community-relevant criteria, where we assessed open source publishing, due to the growing desire for health economic models to be made available in open source format to aid future scientific research.
Results: For the development of complex HTA models, each software programme had a set of advantages and disadvantages. In terms of the criteria considered in this review, ‘R’ was ranked the highest across the largest number of categories. The only low rank it scored was for learning curve. WinBUGS/OpenBUGS was also ranked low for learning curve. It is most useful as an add-on to ‘R’ rather than as standalone software for economic models. Although Excel and Treeage scored highly on learning curve, these software programmes were ranked lower on technical capability, processing speed, open source publishing and for Treeage also on cost.
Conclusions: All four software programmes are suitable for the development of HTA models, however some programmes are better than others across a range of HTA and user relevant criteria. In addition, and of importance to the wider scientific community, some software programmes were more suited to sharing models online. This supports both reproducibility and subsequent modification of economic models thus aiding the advancement of scientific research.
