Resources
Software packages
The following open source software packages are used for decision modeling and leverage different approaches: decision trees, Baynesian networks (eg, influence diagrams), mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) (ie, optimization), and agent-based modeling.
- R: rdecision: for decision trees
- Python: pyAgrum: for influence diagrams with Bayesian networks
- Julia: DecisionProgramming.jl: for influence diagrams with MILP
- Julia: Agents.jl: for agent-based modeling
Primer on Medical Decision Analysis (5 part series)
- Detsky, A. S., G. Naglie, M. D. Krahn, D. Naimark, and D. A. Redelmeier. “Primer on Medical Decision Analysis: Part 1–Getting Started.” Medical Decision Making: An International Journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making 17, no. 2 (1997): 123–25. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272989X9701700201.
- Detsky, A. S., G. Naglie, M. D. Krahn, D. A. Redelmeier, and D. Naimark. “Primer on Medical Decision Analysis: Part 2–Building a Tree.” Medical Decision Making: An International Journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making 17, no. 2 (1997): 126–35. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272989X9701700202.
- Naglie, G., M. D. Krahn, D. Naimark, D. A. Redelmeier, and A. S. Detsky. “Primer on Medical Decision Analysis: Part 3–Estimating Probabilities and Utilities.” Medical Decision Making: An International Journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making 17, no. 2 (1997): 136–41. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272989X9701700203.
- Krahn, M. D., G. Naglie, D. Naimark, D. A. Redelmeier, and A. S. Detsky. “Primer on Medical Decision Analysis: Part 4–Analyzing the Model and Interpreting the Results.” Medical Decision Making: An International Journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making 17, no. 2 (1997): 142–51. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272989X9701700204.
- Naimark, D., M. D. Krahn, G. Naglie, D. A. Redelmeier, and A. S. Detsky. “Primer on Medical Decision Analysis: Part 5–Working with Markov Processes.” Medical Decision Making: An International Journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making 17, no. 2 (1997): 152–59. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272989X9701700205.
Individual articles
- Owens, D. K., R. D. Shachter, and R. F. Nease. “Representation and Analysis of Medical Decision Problems with Influence Diagrams.” Medical Decision Making: An International Journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making 17, no. 3 (1997): 241–62. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272989X9701700301.
- Nease, R. F., and D. K. Owens. “Use of Influence Diagrams to Structure Medical Decisions.” Medical Decision Making: An International Journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making 17, no. 3 (1997): 263–75. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272989X9701700302.
- Sonnenberg, F. A., and J. R. Beck. “Markov Models in Medical Decision Making: A Practical Guide.” Medical Decision Making: An International Journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making 13, no. 4 (1993): 322–38. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272989X9301300409.
- Alarid-Escudero, Fernando, Eline Krijkamp, Eva A. Enns, et al. “A Tutorial on Time-Dependent Cohort State-Transition Models in R Using a Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Example.” Medical Decision Making: An International Journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making 43, no. 1 (2023): 21–41. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272989X221121747.
- Alarid-Escudero, Fernando, Eline Krijkamp, Eva A. Enns, et al. “An Introductory Tutorial on Cohort State-Transition Models in R Using a Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Example.” Medical Decision Making: An International Journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making 43, no. 1 (2023): 3–20. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272989X221103163.
- Jalal, Hawre, Petros Pechlivanoglou, Eline Krijkamp, Fernando Alarid-Escudero, Eva Enns, and M. G. Myriam Hunink. “An Overview of R in Health Decision Sciences.” Medical Decision Making: An International Journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making 37, no. 7 (2017): 735–46. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272989X16686559.
- Williams, Claire, James D. Lewsey, Andrew H. Briggs, and Daniel F. Mackay. “Cost-Effectiveness Analysis in R Using a Multi-State Modeling Survival Analysis Framework: A Tutorial.” Medical Decision Making: An International Journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making 37, no. 4 (2017): 340–52. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272989X16651869.
Recommended books
- Duke, Annie. How to Decide: Simple Tools for Making Better Choices. Penguin Publishing Group, 2020. https://www.annieduke.com/books/.
- Sox, Harold C., Michael C. Higgins, Douglas K. Owens, and Gillian Sanders Schmidler. Medical Decision Making. Third edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119627876.
- Hunink, M. G. Myriam. Decision Making in Health and Medicine. 2nd ed. With Milton C. Weinstein, Eve Wittenberg, Michael F. Drummond, Joseph S. Pliskin, John B. Wong, and Paul Glasziou. Cambridge University Press, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139506779.
- Parnell, Gregory S, Terry A. Bresnick, Eric Specking, Steven N. Tani, and Eric R. Johnson. Handbook of Decision Analysis. 2nd ed. Wiley, 2025.
- Arroyo, Paz, Annett Schöttle, and Randi Christensen. Building Decisions: How Choosing by Advantages Drives Project Success. Routledge, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003518310.
- Alastair Gray and Andrew Briggs, editors. Handbooks in Health Economic Evaluation. Oxford University Press. https://www.herc.ox.ac.uk/downloads/handbooks-in-health-economic-evaluation