First in a new series on economic issues in the context of health care policy, Health Technology Assessments by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence examines Britains highly acclaimed approach to cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA), and its international potential.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has been regarded as a role model for the implementation of CEA, and is being closely watched by health care policy makers throughout Europe, and in the United States. This volume dissects the robustness of the agencys technology appraisal processes as NICE evaluates innovative methods for diagnosis and intervention. Given the unique features of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)starting with it being diagnosed mainly in children and adolescents, its high comorbidity with other psychiatric conditions, and its considerable economic impactthe disorder is a perfect focal point for discussion.

Michael Schlander is founder and chairman of the independentInstitute for Innovation& Valuation in Health Care (InnoValHC), a non-profit, non-partisan scientific organization dedicated to research related to the utilization, effectiveness, efficiency, and quality of health care, with particular emphasis on novel approaches of service provision. He teaches health economics and innovation management at the University of Duisburg-Essen (Faculty of Medicine, since 2005) and at the University of Applied Economic Sciences Ludwigshafen, Germany (since 2002). Prior to his university appointment, he spent fifteen years in senior positions with international pharmaceutical companies in Germany, Belgium, and the United States, and six years in experimental brain research and clinical neurology at German universities.