Biomedical subjects

J D Chasse

Publications and source records attributed to J D Chasse.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1984

Rational decisions and occupational health: a critical view.

This article critically examines a growing trend in the economics of industrial health--the tendency to predict worker behavior on the basis of rational decision models and to draw policy conclusions from these predictions. The method is found weak, both conceptually and empirically. Conceptually, it fitnesses a serious problem of equity and makes unrealistic assumptions about worker behavior and the nature of accident causation. Empirically, its predictions contradict the results of 40 years of accident research, and the evidence advanced to support it is far from convincing. In addition, it produces dangerous hypotheses in the sense in which that term is defined by the opponents of the "accident prone" theory.

Accident Proneness↗

PubMed1976

A Bayesian approach to health project estimation.

This paper illustrates how a Bayesian statistical approach was used to estimate the outcomes of the National Tuberculosis Program in India. Such an estimate, it is argued, is necessary for a proper judgement about a project's social usefulness. The process of medical care delivery is reduced to a set of conditioned probabilities. The numbers are estimated using as source material medical records, the results of medical research, and the opinion of experts. Bayesian methods of estimation are used and their value is discussed. The final discussion contains a brief treatment of the role of project analysis in public decision making. The place of Bayesian methods in project analysis is briefly illustrated, demonstrating their operational value in the field of public health decision making.

Bayes Theorem↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Program analysis in the health field.

Though the term probably originated among the proponents program budgeting in the 1960s, the activities that comprise program analysis date at least from the days of the utilitarians in 19th century Britain. These activities are: (1) specification of goals; (2) identification of different ways to reach goals; (3) estimation of costs; (4) linking of costs and outcomes; (5) weighing and comparing of alternatives. Of these, the linking of costs and outcomes is the most difficult and the most important. There is no "technique" that can be simple "applied" to the problem. The solution must be problem specific. Nor should cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness be viewed as "techniques" that will determine social choice. They can only serve as guides when alternatives are compared. The value of program analysis will always depend on tis political and administrative environment. Both managers and analysts can contribute to its usefulness if they attend to that environment.

Costs and Cost Analysis↗