The Institute of Health Economics

What The Institute of Health Economics does

The Institute of Health Economics (IHE) is an independent, not-for-profit research and advisory organization headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta, with institutional lineage to the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research HTA unit dating to 1996 and formal incorporation in 2005. It operates four core service lines — Economics/Data & Modeling, Evidence Synthesis, Health Technology Assessment, and Policy & Engagement — through which it produces HTA reports, systematic reviews, economic evaluations, geospatial analyses, microsimulations, and policy options for federal, provincial, and territorial health ministries and healthcare stakeholders. Its work is supported by a 555+ publication resource library and increasingly by interactive decision-support tools such as the 2025 MRI Optimization Shiny application and the Health Technology Innovation Platform (HTIP), a public-private partnership developing outcomes-based-agreement playbooks for pharmaceutical reimbursement.

IHE's business model is contracted research and advisory services: revenue is generated through negotiated engagements with government health ministries (Alberta Health, BC Ministry of Health), federal agencies (Canada's Drug Agency), healthcare industry partners, and non-profit organizations; no public pricing exists and no revenue figures are disclosed. Distribution is direct enterprise/government sales with no third-party channel structure. Customer segments are dominated by Canadian provincial governments, with additional relationships across healthcare industry partners and multi-provincial collaborations such as the Prairie Collaborative framework with Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. The organization has established international footprint through UNIVANTS Healthcare Excellence Program co-founding partnership and PHSSR's Canada Report contribution.

Technologically, IHE combines health-economics domain specialization with applied AI tooling in evidence synthesis (DistillerSR, Covidence, ASReview), exploratory generative AI use, geospatial analysis of healthcare administrative data, and microsimulation modeling (OncoSim-Breast). Its competitive advantage rests on multi-disciplinary talent, sustained provincial-government relationships, independent non-profit credibility, and a multi-decade publication record that supports trust in policy-facing outputs. Not being an investor-backed entity, IHE has no funding rounds; capital structure consists of contract revenue and grant inflows, and expansion is paced by policy-buyer demand rather than capital availability.

Name

The Institute of Health Economics

Legal name

Institute of Health Economics

Website

https://ihe.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Institute of Health Economics is an independent Canadian not-for-profit research organization providing health technology assessments, evidence syntheses, economic modeling, and policy advisory services to federal and provincial health ministries, healthcare industry partners, and healthcare organizations across Canada.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Health Economics Research and Consulting

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Services-Health Services (8000)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYHLAJANAL

Economic Evaluation & Health Technology Assessment (Public Programs)

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Public Health, Government & Regulators/Health Program Evaluation & Surveillance

SECONDARYHLAJACAF

Health Technology Assessment (HTA) & Reimbursement Policy Bodies

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Public Health, Government & Regulators/Health Policy, Regulation & Compliance Authorities

SECONDARYHLAGAOAN

Market Access, Pricing & Reimbursement (Evidence Generation) FSP

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Life Science Tools & Services (CRO/CDMO/Lab Services)/Scientific Staffing & Functional Service Providers (FSP)

SECONDARYHLAJAMAJ

Monitoring, Evaluation, Performance Management & Quality Improvement

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Public Health, Government & Regulators/Public Health Policy & Administration

Keywords

• Health economics research
• Health technology assessment
• Evidence synthesis services
• Healthcare policy advisory
• Economic modeling analytics

Headquarters

HQ city

Edmonton

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Research Contracts: IHE generates revenue through contracted research engagements with government health ministries, healthcare organizations, and industry partners. The organization conducts health technology assessments, evidence syntheses, and policy analyses funded by organizations such as Alberta Health, British Columbia Ministry of Health, and Canada's Drug Agency.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Institute of Health Economics (IHE) is an independent not-for-profit organization that conducts contracted health economics research, health technology assessments (HTA), evidence syntheses, and economic modeling for governments, healthcare organizations, and industry partners. It supports healthcare decision-making by integrating clinical, economic, ethical, and societal perspectives, and operates the Health Technology Innovation Platform (HTIP), a public-private partnership developing an Outcomes-Based Agreements Playbook for pharmaceutical reimbursement. Its work is distributed through a Resource Library of 555+ publications.

Product overview

The Institute of Health Economics (IHE) is an independent not-for-profit organization offering four core service areas: Economics, Data & Modeling; Evidence Synthesis; Health Technology Assessment; and Policy & Engagement. These services are supported by a searchable Resource Library containing 555+ publications. IHE also operates the Health Technology Innovation Platform (HTIP), a public-private partnership developing an OBA Playbook for pharmaceutical reimbursement. Key digital products include an MRI Optimization Tool (interactive web application) and featured policy reports on disease economic burden.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• HTIP (Health Technology Innovation Platform): A public-private partnership with the mission of enabling timely and appropriate patient access to innovative therapeutics. Developing an OBA Playbook to support outcomes-based agreements in pharmaceutical reimbursement.

Products and services

• Economics, Data & Modeling Service offering that uncovers key insights from complex healthcare data using advanced economics, modeling, and analytics to help decision-makers understand financial and systemic impacts of healthcare systems, innovations, and interventions.
• Evidence Synthesis Service offering that leverages rigorous research methods to synthesize evidence across diverse health conditions, technologies, and jurisdictions to support informed policy and practice.
• Health Technology Assessment Service offering providing comprehensive, multi-disciplinary assessments of health technologies integrating clinical, economic, ethical, and societal perspectives for confident adoption and implementation decisions.
• Policy & Engagement Service offering providing independent, evidence-informed policy options and facilitating balanced discussions between industry, government, and healthcare leaders to advance practical health system solutions.
• Health Technology Innovation Platform (HTIP) Public-private partnership platform developing an OBA (Outcomes-Based Agreements) Playbook to support design and implementation of OBAs in pharmaceutical reimbursement. Uses MVP approach focusing on implementable opportunities.
• MRI Optimization Tool Interactive demonstration application for exploring MRI wait time optimization scenarios. Allows users to evaluate how changes in MRI capacity and scheduling by urgency level can impact wait times and downstream health outcomes in Alberta.

Quantifiable outcome

• Produced over 555 publications and reports supporting evidence-based healthcare decision-making across Canada and internationally.
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered moderate, major and core.

• Partnership for Health Sustainability and Resilience (PHSSR)moderateStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022IHE contributed as part of the team authoring the Canada Report for the Partnership for Health Sustainability and Resilience initiative. PHSSR is a global collaboration between academic, non-governmental, life sciences, healthcare and business organizations, with assessments underway in over 20 countries.
• Canadian Partnership Against Cancer (CPAC)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020IHE collaborated with CPAC using the OncoSim-Breast microsimulation model led by Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, with model development by Statistics Canada, to assess comparative effectiveness of breast cancer screening strategies in Canada.
• Health Technology Innovation Platform (HTIP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHTIP is described as a public-private partnership with the mission of enabling timely and appropriate patient access to innovative therapeutics. The platform develops playbooks and tools to support the design and implementation of outcomes-based agreements (OBAs) in pharmaceutical reimbursement, facilitating collaboration between public and private stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem.
• Canada's Drug AgencymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCanada's Drug Agency provided financial contribution through a research contract supporting IHE's work on measuring and incorporating caregiver utility for economic evaluations. This represents a federal-level engagement supporting health economics research.
• British Columbia Ministry of HealthmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Health Technology Assessment Office of the Ministry of Health, Province of British Columbia supported multiple HTA reports including fecal microbiota transplantation for CDI treatment, sacral nerve stimulation for fecal incontinence, and hybrid closed loop insulin delivery systems. Views expressed do not necessarily represent official provincial policy.
• UNIVANTS Healthcare Excellence Program PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIHE is a founding partner of the international UNIVANTS Healthcare Excellence Program along with 7 other healthcare organizations. The program showcases innovative programs in Laboratory Medicine and recognizes best practices through an awards structure.
• Prairie Collaborative (Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan Ministries of Health)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Prairie Collaborative Immune Globulin Utilization Management Framework project was a trilateral agreement between Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan ministries of health, involving multidisciplinary committees to establish criteria for IG therapy and increase accountability for quality, safety, and sustainability of the blood supply system.
• North American Observatory on Health Systems and PoliciesmoderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerIHE collaborated with the North American Observatory on Health Systems and Policies on rapid reviews including emergency department diversion initiatives and primary care governance and financing models.
• Royal Society of CanadamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIHE CEO Dr. Christopher McCabe chaired the COVID-19 and Economic Recovery Working Group of the Royal Society of Canada Task Force on COVID-19, contributing to the report 'Renewing the Social Contract: Economic Recovery in Canada from COVID-19'.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (now Canada's Drug Agency): Canada's national HTA body that produces HTAs, reimbursement recommendations, and evidence syntheses for federal/provincial payers. Most directly comparable to IHE in scope of services and Canadian government customer base; also an IHE customer.
• Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER): US-based independent HTA organization producing value-based price benchmarks and evidence reports for payers. Directly comparable in independence, HTA/HEOR methodology, and engagement of public and private payers.
• Office of Health Economics (OHE): Independent UK not-for-profit health economics research organization producing HEOR and policy analysis for governments and industry. Closely comparable in independent status, research focus, and customer mix.

Broad incumbents

• National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE): UK national HTA body setting health technology reimbursement guidance for the NHS. Comparable in HTA scope and policy influence; differs as a government agency with broader mandate than IHE.
• Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC): Scotland's national HTA body evaluating new medicines for NHS Scotland. Comparable HTA methodology and sub-national payer focus, with similar reliance on health-economic evidence.

Emerging players

• RTI Health Solutions: For-profit HEOR and real-world evidence consultancy serving pharmaceutical and payer clients. Comparable in evidence synthesis and economic modeling, but operates on commercial contracts rather than policy advisory model.
• Evidera (now part of Thermo Fisher Scientific): Global HEOR and RWE consultancy offering evidence synthesis, economic modeling, and market access support. Comparable in HEOR service offerings to pharma and payers, but at commercial scale.

Regional players

• Canadian Partnership Against Cancer: Canadian federally-funded cancer control organization that partnered with IHE on the OncoSim-Breast microsimulation model. Comparable in Canadian health-policy research delivery and government funding model.

Others

• Health Technology Assessment International (HTAi): International society supporting the HTA community with annual conferences, policy forums, and methodological guidance. Comparable as an HTA ecosystem organization but does not produce assessments directly.
• North American Observatory on Health Systems and Policies: Cross-jurisdictional health policy research partnership IHE collaborates with on rapid reviews. Comparable in producing health policy evidence synthesis for governments in North America.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@InstituteofHealthEconomics
• LinkedInca.linkedin.com/company/ihe-canada
• Xx.com/ihe_canada

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Institute of Health Economics