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Table 2 Description of organisational mechanisms, both internal and external to the organisation, used to meet health economics needs by departments of health in Australia, 2004.
| Organisational mechanism | Description |
|---|---|
| Internal | |
| Position descriptions require qualifications that include an appreciation of economics or health economics in the coursework | Many position descriptions in health require a qualification that includes some introduction to economics or health economics eg Masters of Public Health or Masters of Health Administration. |
| Staff training (e.g., the NSW Public Health Officer Training Program) | Short courses in health economics of varying duration and intensity, with or without final assessment of participants or accreditation of the courses. |
| Generalist staff with economic qualifications | Staff have a degree in economics but are not specialist health economists nor does their position require this qualification. |
| Specialist health economics training programs | Structured training programs to develop specialist health economists. |
| Health economist positions | Position description requires a qualification in health economics. |
| Health economics units | A team of health economists (with or without other disciplines) of varying size with well developed roles and functions to support decision making. |
| External | |
| Consultancy for services | Services of a scale that do not require contracted arrangements, usually for specific tasks, where expertise was sought through professional and personal networks. |
| Contract research | Contracts whose size does not warrant a competitive tendering process sometimes met by a preferred provider. |
| Contract research by tender | Contracts developed and let by competitive tender, usually filled by private providers or the academic sector. |
| Collaborative research centres | University professorial chairs or research centres established with funding that secures the focus of the work in whole or part to meet health service needs. |
