We chat to the Director of the Centre for Health Economy, Henry Cutler, to find out just what being a health economist is all about.

Work stuff
I’ve been at Macquarie for…
Three-and-a-half years, although I spent six months here as an undergraduate in the mid 1990s to study environmental economics (it wasn’t being offered at UTS).

In a nutshell, my job is to…
Direct a research team exploring the economics of the health and disability care systems and help build the profile of the Centre for the Health Economy. That includes undertaking economic evaluations of health and human services programs and undertaking analysis of government health and human services policy across five strategic research themes, including integrated care, mental health, health technology, aged care and disability care.

The question I hear most often in my work is…
“What does a health economist do?” We help government and non-government organisations maximise health outputs for each dollar spent on the health care system. Our tools include economic evaluation, econometric analysis (data analytics), health technology assessment, choice modelling and program evaluation.

The top three things on my to-do list today are…
1. Review a paper on the impact of private health insurance reform on membership.
2. Complete a grant application to explore whether people make optimal accommodation payment decisions when entering residential aged care.
3. Finalise a report on the cost effectiveness of a hearing screening app (Sound Scouts) to detect hearing loss in young children before they enter primary school.

If I could do any other job at Macquarie (with instant qualifications/knowledge) it would be…
Astrophysics, because the Universe seems like such an interesting and weird place.

A Macquarie staff member who impressed me last week…
Dr Bonny Parkinson (Senior Research Fellow in MUCHE), for her tireless effort and commitment to producing amazing economic evaluation reports under immense time pressure and staff absences.

I get my campus coffee fix from…
The café under the Panasonic building. The coffee is OK, but the salmon breakfast wrap is awesome.

If you were given $50 million to create or build something at Macquarie, what would you do with it?
Create further collaborations with health and technology organisations located within Macquarie Park and beyond by undertaking several large ‘blue sky’ joint research ventures.

Personal life
My favourite subject at school was…
Mathematics, because it felt like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, and there was only ever one correct answer (at least in high school).

Outside work, you’ll often find me…
Riding my pushbike or motorbike, and running around playing with my two young kids.

I’m really looking forward to…
Travelling through outback Queensland to visit my extended family on a cattle station and introducing my young kids to proper farm life in Australia, warts and all.

The most amazing place I’ve ever visited is…
Probably Morocco, for its diverse landscapes, food and culture. I also met my wife there while waiting for a bus in Chefchaouen (the blue city). She was from Newcastle, Australia.

The last great book I read was…
The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck