Rebecca Hancock-Howard

I am passionate about using health economic evidence to inform real world decision-making and policy. I apply my academic training in health economics and clinical research to my work, with experience in both the private and public sectors. Currently I lead independent consulting projects at the Accessing Centre for Expertise and serve as an advisory committee member on Ontario’s Committee to Evaluate Drugs.

I have conducted economic evaluations in a variety of clinical areas and settings, serving governments, local and global pharmaceutical companies, start-ups, device manufacturers, hospitals, not-for-profits and the academic community. Specifically, I have provided expert advice in support of the Government of Ontario’s health policy agenda as a senior health economist at the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. I was responsible for costing analyses, budget impact analyses, and program evaluations for new policy initiatives. I helped consider policy through a health economics lens and strove to communicate economic principles clearly to policymakers. As a consultant working in the private sector, I have worked on a range of health economics, technology assessment and market access projects with diverse international teams. As a graduate student I was based at the Hospital for Sick Children, where I supported clinicians in developing evaluations focused on pediatrics. My PhD thesis work used innovative discrete choice methods to value health information services for pregnant women. Valuation of health benefits and outcomes through novel methods remains an interest, as well as maternal and child health.

At IHPME, I co-teach Economic Evaluation Methods for Health Services Research (HAD5730) and am a faculty associate at the Canadian Centre for Health Economics.