The decision making process within a context of limited resources has important
consequences on the health of individuals. The criteria by which health technology
assessment and health interventions are decided, as well as the review of current
procedures represent a challenge for decision makers in the face of the current
economic slowdown. The decision making process requires a transparent and
rational approach to ensure the maximization of health care and the reduction
of inequalities. Economic evaluation techniques may provide a valid solution to
achieve these goals. Preference based measures are part of economic evaluation
techniques. These approaches incorporate utilities for health outcomes and can
be used in cost-benefit analyses to aid resource allocation decisions. They may
also meet the needs of citizens. However, the methodological challenges regarding
particular situations and the preference based measures currently in use
require further research in order to improve cost-benefit analysis and explore
alternative preference elicitation methods for decision making. The comparative
studies concerning the application of different techniques to obtain utility values
show that techniques such as Discrete Choice Experiment are promising with
regard to the use of the more traditional Visual Analogue Scale, the Time Trade-
-Off and the Standard Gamble. However, this technique still presents challenges
and requires improvements. Further applications of this technique along with the implementation of hybrid methods are needed to support the decision making
process. This paper provides a brief description of each of these techniques and
illustrates some of their applications.