History

IHE timeline to present

1994 –The University of Alberta and the Government of Alberta establish a steering committee drawn from the Universities of Alberta and Calgary, the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research, and the federal and provincial governments to explore the feasibility of creating an Alberta-based Institute of Pharmaco-Economics.
 
1995 – The Institute of Pharmaco-Economics (IPE) is established in September with a unique collaborative arrangement among government, academia, and industry. The vision of the Institute is “to become a centre of excellence in the areas of health economics, health outcomes, and health policy research.”
 
IHE’s first Board Chair is the Rt. Hon. Don Mazankowski. The Institute’s first Executive Director and CEO is Dr. Devidas Menon.
 
1999 – In April 1999, the Board of Directors and Shareholders of the IPE approve a name change for the organization from the Institute of Pharmaco-Economics to the Institute of Health Economics. The new name reflects the broad research mandate of the Institute and speaks more clearly to the fact that IHE’s research encompasses all aspects of the health care system.
 
2001 – The Board of Directors develops the first strategic plan of the organization with a goal of the IHE playing a leading role in health policy research and in influencing health policy development in Canada and internationally.
 
2003 – IHE is selected to host the 19th annual conference of the International Society of Technology Assessment in Health Care.
 
IHE begins serving as Secretariat for Health Technology Assessment International, the only international professional society focusing specifically on HTA and embracing all those who do and use it, whether in academic institutions, health care facilities, industry, business, the voluntary sector, or government.
 
IHE begins serving as Secretariat for the Canadian Association for Population Therapeutics, a society that explicitly recognizes the contributions that the industry makes to the field of population therapeutics.
 
2005 – The Institute marks its 10th anniversary by welcoming new Board Chair Dr. Lorne Tyrrell and appointing new Executive Director and CEO Prof. Egon Jonsson.
 
Under the direction of Prof. Jonsson IHE develops a new 10-point strategic plan to focus the organization to be more policy-oriented.
 
IHE becomes the host editorial office for the International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care. IHE Executive Director and CEO Prof. Egon Jonsson is co-editor.
 
2006 – IHE takes over the provincial health technology assessment function with the consolidation of the Institute’s unit and the HTA unit from the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research.
 
IHE holds its first Consensus Development Conference on Self-monitoring in Diabetes.
 
2007 – IHE marks growth in personnel from fewer than 10 people in 2004 to more than 30 research and administrative staff.
 
IHE research staff produces a record number of publications in the new IHE Report format.
 
IHE holds its second Consensus Development Conference on Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies: How to Prevent Low Birth Weight.
 
2008 – IHE embarks on the development of a new strategic plan with six key areas of focus: health economics, health technology assessment, knowledge transfer and dissemination, special evaluation projects, key partnerships, and capacity building.
 
IHE has a new book series published by Wiley that includes three volumes in 2008.
 
IHE assumes a stronger role as the provincial focus for HTA activities in Alberta.
 
The Institute continues as a member of HTAi, INAHTA, and WHO Health Evidence Network.
 
IHE establishes a Decision Analytic Modelling Unit which promotes the use, understanding, and integration of economic modelling techniques for healthcare professionals and organizations interested in the latest tools in informing health policy making.
 
IHE establishes an Economics of Mental Health Unit.

2009 -IHE hosts a Consensus Development Conference on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: Across the Lifespan and hosts two Innovation Forums for Alberta decision makers.