Abstract
When decisions must be made in the face of uncertainty, decision analysis may be helpful. It is a quantitative analytical technique which describes a problem in terms of (a) multiple possible courses of action, (b) the probabilities that certain events and outcomes will occur, and (c) the value of the expected outcomes resulting from different courses of action. The principal goal of decision analysis is to determine the most appropriate course of action given the data available. When there is a great deal of uncertainty, it will often not be possible to identify an optimal strategy. In this case, decision analysis helps to structure a problem explicitly and rationally using the information that is available. Decision analysis has been used in socioeconomic evaluations as a means of quantifying the outcomes associated with various medical diagnostic modalities and treatments.
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Further Reading
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© 1990 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Luce, B.R., Elixhauser, A., Culyer, A.J. (1990). Decision Analysis. In: Culyer, A.J. (eds) Standards for the Socioeconomic Evaluation of Health Care Services. Health Systems Research. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-75490-6_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-75490-6_12
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
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