A framework for priority setting

Editor–Alan Maynard highlighted the lack of a commonly agreed framework or principles that purchasers can use to set priorities.1 We argue that such a framework should be based on the following pragmatic approach.

The starting point of this framework is knowledge of how resources are currently being used. Although this may seem an obvious requirement for accountability, many purchasers simply do not know, other than at a broad level, what resources are spent on different diseases, care groups, local …