ANZIC-RC Health Economics Program

The Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Research Centre Health Economics Program is led by Dr Lisa Higgins. The aims of the Health Economics Program are:

  • Promote the inclusion of economic analyses in intensive care clinical trials
  • Develop standard methodology for economic evaluation alongside intensive care trials
  • Develop methods to efficiently collect resource use data in trial cohorts (including data linkage for post-hospital healthcare resource use and the addition of resource use data points into existing intensive care (and other) databases)
  • Develop standardised costings for use in intensive care economic evaluations
  • Provide opportunities for mentoring and for health economics training relevant to critical care.

The Health Economics Program Team includes:

Economic Evaluations - In Progress

Health Economic Analysis Plans

Health Economic Analysis plan for a randomised controlled trial comparing balanced multi-electrolyte solution with 0.9% sodium chloride as fluid therapy for diabetic ketoacidosis (BEST-DKA). Orman Z, Ramanan M, Venkatesh B, Higgins A. V1.0, 10 June 2026

Health Economic Analysis Plan for the Fibrinogen Early in Severe Trauma (FEISTY II) Study. Orman Z, McQuilten Z, Winearls J, Cooper J, Reade M, French C, Presneill J, Balogh Z, Moore J, Wood E, Ady B, Higgins A. V1.0, 9 June 2026

Health Economic Analysis Plan for the Australasian Resuscitation In Sepsis Evaluation: FLUid or vasopressors In emergency Department Sepsis (ARISE FLUIDS) trial. V1.1, 4 March 2026

Health Economic Analysis Plan for the SODa-BIC Trial: Comparing sodium bicarbonate with placebo in the prevention of major adverse kidney events among critically ill adults with metabolic acidosis. V2.0, 25 February 2026

Low OxyGen Intervention for Cardiac Arrest injury Limitation (LOGICAL) trial: Health economic analysis plan for a multi-centre, randomised, single-blinded clinical trial comparing conservative vs. liberal oxygenation targets in adults with suspected hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy following a cardiac arrest who are invasively mechanical ventilated in the intensive care unit. Orman Z, Hodgson C, Young P, Bailey M, Mackle D, Mather A, Higgins A. Version 2.0, 28 January 2026

Cost-effectiveness of Tranexamic Acid for Severe Trauma Patients: Study protocol for the economic evaluation of the Pre-hospital Antifibrinolytics for Traumatic Coagulopathy and Haemorrhage (PATCH-Trauma) trial. Higgins A, Fagery M, Carrandi L, Gruen R, Mitra B, Ng N, Myles P, Forbes A. Version 3.0, December 2025

Blend to Limit OxygEN in ECMO: A RanDomised ControllEd Registry Trial (The BLENDER Trial): Health Economic Analysis Plan. Higgins A, Burrell A, Pilcher D, Hodgson C, Papanikolaou V, Carrandi L, Ng N, Orman Z, Charles-Nelson A. Version 1.0, 22 July 2025.

Statistical Analysis Plans

Healthcare Resource Utilisation and Costs Before and After ECMO in Australia: A Retrospective Cohort Data Linkage Study (ECMO-LINK) V1.0, 18th May 2026

Study Links

Economic Evaluations - Completed