Rendezvous with health economics

A few weeks back, he asked me whether I am interested in health economics. He was like an eldest brother to me, someone I lacked in my life, someone I love more than revere. But I replied on the negative.

The other day there was a discussion on health economics.

On the way back, my wife asked me why you said no two three weeks back to him, when he asked you are interested in health economics. You could have just said yes. Anyway you had attended four or five workshops on health economics. You must be interested.

I told her attending and learning are unrelated to whether you pursue it or not. We just need to be acquainted with other domains that share borders with our chosen one so that we can imbibe the new thoughts and that will expand our narrow vision.

I told her again knowing a thing does not mean you need to do it. I told her the story of the legend “naraanthu Brandan” digging multiple pits the whole day waiting someone praying different deities and telling the other one he could have completed digging a well if he had dug one pit.

But she was not ready to leave me. She pestered again. You should have said yes to him.

Writing a second order Markov is an easy task; that does not mean I should veer out to health economics.

Surgery and epidemiology are my sweethearts. I was dating epidemiology for more than a decade, never trying to deflower her and just understanding her better. I would have continued to preening and dating her, but for that eldest brother and one great lady who nudged me to “do it“ one or one and half years back. Till then, I was deflowering others maidens or playing others girls , with the confidence I gained from dating my sweetheart.

She was not happy with the answers.

Anyway it is connected, no?

Yes it is connected , but different, fundamentally different.

It is all about costs, but my sweethearts are all about effects, titillating effects

It is all about numerator, baby. It is the numerator that we are interested in conditional on the denominator. Sometimes denominator dominates, but it is still the numerator we date with.

When we study prevalence , it is the numerator we are interested out of the denominator. When you study an association, it is effect size you are interested in.

When it comes to health economics , still it is the numerator we are interested in conditional on the denominator.

But here it is the costs, whatever be the type of the study; just that the various types take you from gross denominators to abstract ones. You may rename the costs as rewards; but it doesn’t matter.

She was now almost sleepy. Must be eager to stop the conversion dillydallying to gibberish for her.

But she managed to ask, what you mean by gross to abstract.

I tried to explain. I learn by seeing the concepts in metaphors coming in my dreams. I am poor at explaining things, always keeping secret my own simple models and metaphors of understanding abstruse concepts to myself, though I know every other way I try to explain fails.

Still I tried to explain. Health economics is about costs , additional costs and rewards, just that the denominator changes.

Cost effectiveness is about additional cost for additional effect. Here what we are interested in is cost ,additional cost only, but conditional on additional or extra effects. Clinicians are more interested in doing cost effectiveness; may be because at least the denominator is something we can understand, conceive, familiar and near to their profession. But it is still the costs you are studying.

Then you have cost utility analysis , the denominator just changes to something between gross and subtle; you have QALY or DALY. Cost utility analysis is the transgender.

Then you have the cost benefit analysis. Even the denominator is now cost. You convert everything in to cost.

So from the cost effectiveness to cost benefit, the denominator changes from gross to subtle. What happens when you reach the subtlest. You behold the absolute.

Similarly, when it comes to cost benefit analysis , it is cost all over, both in numerator and denominator and it becomes unitless, gaining absolute power.

I stopped my continuous blah blah , saying I do not like dating with Miss.Costs; occasional rendezvous is ok.

And I started to be aware of the snoring coming from the next seat.