Introduction to Health Economics (VVDG_048)
About Study Course
Objective
The purpose of this course is to provide students with basic knowledge, skills and competences in making more efficient use of scarce healthcare resources through the acquisition of conceptual and applied techniques and through empirical evidence from literature and case studies.
Prerequisites
Basic economic knowledge is desirable.
Learning outcomes
1.Upon successful completion of the course the students will:
- understand the economic relevance of health and health care;
- estimate the demand for health and health care,
- be aware of the specificities of the operating environments of the health care markets;
- describe models of healthcare financing design; and the behavior of various stakeholders;
- understand the rationale for government intervention in healthcare markets and describe healthcare insurance;
- analyse the main feature of different healthcare systems utilizing an international comparative framework.
1.The students will be able to:
- understand fundamental mechanisms related to economics applied to health care;
- understand the economics of health care institutions;
- interpret stakeholders’ behavior in healthcare markets;
- understand the economics of frailty and failure in markets for health care;
- justify the use of economic concepts and evaluation techniques in the analysis of health sector and health care services;
- understand the economics behind decision making in the health care system;
- interpret public policies as addressing trade-offs in health care allocations.
1.Students will be able to:
- to interpret the feasibility of applying the principles of the health economy in health care;
- identify and address health problems through innovative health economic tools;
- to judge the causes of market failures and identify policy tools to highlight them in the healthcare sector;
- assess the effectiveness of health policy in the context of fairness and effectiveness;
- to provide an opinion and support more effective decision-making in healthcare.
