SPUM09009U Health Economics

Volume 2015/2016
Education

Master's Programme in Public Health

Content

Health economics is a branch of economics concerned with issues related to effectiveness, efficiency, value and actors’ behavior in the production and consumption of health and health care. A key topic for health economists is the study of the functioning of health care systems including analysis of costs and benefits of individual interventions in use or under consideration for introduction in a health care system.

The course puts emphasis on providing a basic background in key topics in health economics followed by an overview of analytical techniques in health economics with special emphasis on cost effectiveness analysis, cost-benefit analysis and cost-utility analysis, challenges associated with utilizing these techniques, and tools aimed at overcoming such challenges.

The course includes a mix of presentations of topics in health economics and analytical techniques, exercises and preparation of a synopsis (under supervision), and e-learning.

Learning outcome: After having followed the course the student has acquired:

  • Knowledge about key topics in health care including financing of health care systems, how health care differs from the standard model for perfect competition contributing to market failure, and how government failure may reduce efficiency in public health care.

  • Sufficient knowledge and experience to critically evaluate the preconditions in a cost-effectiveness-analysis, a cost-benefit-analysis or a cost-utility analysis; select the relevant design for analyzing a problem in the field of health economics and perform independently a simple cost-effectiveness-analysis, cost-benefit-analysis or cost-utility-analysis
Learning Outcome

After completing the course the student is expected to be able to

Knowledge

  • Define key concepts in health economics

  • Define the economic characteristics of the market for health care, including how this market differs from the standard neo-classical model of perfect competition, including market failure, and government failure

  • Explain and critically evaluate tools to counter market-failure and government failure

  • Explain and critically evaluate funding methods in health care

Skill

  • Master key concepts in health economics including efficiency, margin/average, opportunity cost, supplier-induced demand and agent-principal-relations

  • Assess the relevance of analytical methods from the field of health economics for specific study questions

  • Assess and independently discuss preconditions and choice of estimation techniques used by peers in cost-effectiveness analyses

Competence

  • Independently select the relevant analytical method when facing a problem in the field of health economics and perform a basic cost-effectiveness-analysis, a cost-benefit-analysis or a cost-utility analysis

  • Independently critically evaluate the preconditions in a cost-effectiveness-analysis, a cost-benefit-analysis or a cost-utility analysis

Shared module 3 at MPH or equivalent qualifications
Class instructions
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Class Instruction
  • 40
  • Exam Preparation
  • 20
  • Preparation
  • 150
  • Total
  • 210
Credit
7,5 ECTS
Type of assessment
Written assignment
Home assignment
Aid
All aids allowed
Marking scale
passed/not passed
Censorship form
No external censorship
One internal examiner
Criteria for exam assesment

During the course, the student analyses a topic in the field of health economics and prepares a synopsis. The synopsis is presented at the end of the course.