ABSTRACT
Before priority setting can begin, it is generally recognized that there is a need to establish ethical principles to underline the process. In Oregon, these were developed from public values expressed at community meetings and were used to rank the categories in which condition-treatment pairs were listed. Priority setting is subject to a number of conflicting pressures, as set forth in the model taken from the UK. As the process becomes more explicit, pressure will also come from the public on the one hand and an increasing array of economic data on the other. Priority setting involves the difficult task of reconciling these conflicting pressures. If priority setting is to proceed in a satisfactory way, co-ordinated action is required to achieve a better balance between the focus on the needs of individual patients and fair use of resources across the community.
