Background:
There is a strong need for education in the field of pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research. However, when teaching to an audience in this field, there should be clear objectives in terms of the desired outcomes of the education process. An outcomes-based approach provides better clarity for teachers about the goals to be achieved, and makes it easier for students to know what they are expected to learn. Universities and health professional bodies increasingly use outcomes-based learning.

ISPOR is playing a key role in achieving consensus about the learning outcomes in the field of pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research. The ISPOR Learning Outcomes Task Force developed learning outcomes regarding skill level:

• Technical skills (e.g. developing medical decision trees)
• Social/ethical skills (e.g. interpretation of results at the population level, understanding of ethical issues)
• Personal/professional skills (e.g. functioning within an organization)

The Task Force then defined the target audience for pharmacoeconomics and health care outcomes research. They are: pharmaceutical industry (marketing/sales/managers), formulary committee members, clinicians, outcomes researchers (academia/industry/CRO/etc, health policy-makers or funders (government/private).
The Task Force then developed different levels of desired outcomes, depending on the target audience (the audience to be taught), for each of the different skills:

• Awareness level (e.g. one should know what a decision tree is, and understand the terminology used)
• Application level (e.g. one should be able to understand a decision tree that is conceptualized by others)
• Conceptualization level (e.g. one can develop a new decision tree)

For each potential target audience, a matrix was developed containing one dimension with the skills (technical, social/ethical, personal/professional) and one dimension with the desired outcome to be achieved per skill. The Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Learning Outcomes matrix is as follows:
 

PHARMACOECONOMICS AND OUTCOMES RESEARCH LEARNING OUTCOMES MATRIX