Christopher Carswell is an IAHPR member and the editor in chief of The Patient, our official journal. He is also co-editor in chief of PharmacoEconomics (with Timothy Wrightson) and consulting editor of Applied Health Economics and Health Policy. These three Springer Nature journals are among the top six within HPR (alongside Value in Health, Health Economics, and Medical Decision Making). When considering where to submit their next HPR manuscript, authors may find it challenging to choose between these top journals. Chris provided us with some advice regarding the Springer Nature journals:
PharmacoEconomics is primarily focused on the economic evaluation and reimbursement of drug therapy from the payer or societal perspective. As such, any preference paper that has direct relevance to the estimation of QALYs within this context would be best placed in PharmacoEconomics (e.g., estimation of value sets using the general population, mapping between outcome measures, burden of disease as measured by QALYs lost).
Applied Health Economics and Health Policy (AHEHP) has a broad scope including all determinants of health, such as safety, environment, education, transportation, lifestyle, workforce, and public policies as well as health care. Unlike PharmacoEconomics, AHEHP tends to favor economic evaluations beyond drug therapies (e.g., devices, screenings, transplants, surgeries). Furthermore, it publishes preference papers that have implications for health policy (e.g., health insurance reforms) and other determinants of population health.
In summary, these three journals complement each other in their aims, cover the breadth of HPR, and welcome the submission of health preference studies. The editorial board of each journal includes multiple IAHPR members, who can provide a thorough and expeditious review of your next manuscript. Please contact me if you have any questions.”