R for Health Technology Assessment (HTA) is an academic consortium whose main objective is to explore the use of R for cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) as an alternative to less efficient, generalisable and powerful software such as spreadsheets. R is a freely available language and environment for statistical computing and graphics which provides a wide variety of statistical and graphical techniques. We advocate the use of proper statistical software, notably R, to be used in the whole process of health economic evaluation.

General topics of interest include a wide range of technical aspects, e.g. the discussion of the many available R add-on packages, as well as ways to help users get the most out of R for CEA. Presentations and public discussions are used to address the computational and transparency advantages of R over Excel for CEA and for easing collaboration. Our members have diverse experience in government (including NICE in the UK), academia, and industry.