Course description
The course describes the basic framework of health economics, introduce basic concepts and principles. The course describes economic theory of health and healthcare. The course focuses on key economic concepts that health economists use to analyze health and healthcare markets. The course examines the demand for health and health care, the nature of health care as a commodity and the behaviour and organization of health care providers, health care financing and insurance, health care funding, innovation in health care, methods for evaluating health care programs and interventions. The course offers a brief introduction to economic theory; the uses of economic theory to explain and predict the operation of the health system and the theory to facilitate decision making from a perspective of making the most efficient use of limited resources and an overview of these two divisions, exploring how they can help facilitate decisions at all levels of healthcare planning and delivery.
Course outcomes
Upon the completion of this course, students will be able to:
• Explain why and how economics is applicable to health
• Describe the relationship between price elastic of demand and revenue
• Identify factors which influence the demand and supply of a product
• Analyze the consequences of price regulation, subsidies and indirect taxation by the government
• Discuss the economic justification for market failure
• Analyze how demand theory can be used in health service planning
• Analyze the health production model and its theoretical implications for health inequalities
• Explain the consequences for price, output and efficiency for each market failure
• Explain how monopoly power, externalities and information asymmetries manifest themselves in the health care market
Course contents
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🔽 1 h 21 min | Introduction
- Basic economic model
- Branches of economics descriptive/prescriptive
- Application of economic principles and theories in health
- Key health economics concepts
- Principles of economics
🔽 0 h 57 min | Supply and Demand
- Simple model of demand, supply and price determination
- Market equilibrium
- The elasticity of demand in health policy
- Shifts in demand curve
🔽 1 h 10 min | Understanding Healthcare Delivery: The Economic Contribution
- The basic model of a perfectly competitive market
- Uncertainty and the nature of healthcare insurance
- Externalities and public financing of healthcare
- Symmetry of information
🔽 0 h 52 min | Economics and Health Care Market
- Market theories to health care
- Markets and prices
- Demand and supply for medical care
- Production of health and supply in detail
- The role/necessity of government in health care
🔽 1 h 34 min | Methods for the Economic Evaluation of Health Care
- Basics of economic evaluation
- Costing interventions in healthcare
- Method of economic evaluations
- Program cost analysis
- Critical appraisal of an economic evaluation
🔽 1 h 12 min | The Role of Health Economics in Decision-making
- Health economics and evidence-based health care
- Requirements for health economic evaluations
- Economic evaluation in decision-making
This course includes:
7 h 05 min recorded video
Downloadable resources (books and articles)
One year access
Access on mobile and TV
Advanced Level
Certificate of completion