ECC2700

Economic issues in health and health care ( 6 points, SCA Band 2, 0.125 EFTSL)

Leader: Dr Bruce Hollingsworth

Offered:
Clayton First semester 2005 (Day)

Synopsis: The nature of the commodity health care and the production of health; traditional alternative theories of demand; economics of insurance and information; behaviour of health care providers including physicians and hospitals; regulation to meet social objectives including equity and justice; hospital payment systems; the role of regulation, licensure and the professions; international comparison of health system design; the technique of using economic evaluation in health care to set priorities.

Objectives: On completion of this unit students will: 1. have gained an understanding of the nature of health as a produced commodity and the implications for resource allocation in health care; 2. be able to identify the sources of market failure in health and health insurance and the issues involved in health system design; 3. be able to apply the concepts of agency and incomplete contracts for the analysis of problems in the demand and supply of health care and the organization of health care funding; 4. be able to apply the concepts of efficiency and equity in health and to design and negotiate ways in which the funding of health care can impact on these objectives; 5. have used the concept of net benefits to evaluate a health care intervention and present the results in both oral and written form.

Assessment: Class presentations: 20% + Essay (1500 words): 15% + Examination (2 hours): 65%

Contact Hours: Three contact hours per week

Prerequisites: ECC1000