Postgraduate - UnitECC5970 - Introduction to health economics

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 3, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Level	Postgraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Business and Economics
Organisational Unit	Department of Economics
Offered	Clayton First semester 2015 (Off-campus)
Coordinator(s)	Dr Agne Suziedelyte

Synopsis

This unit provides an understanding of the microeconomic approach to resource allocation, both in general and specifically, in relation to the health sector. It introduces students to the use of economic tools in the analysis of the 'market' for health care, in terms of efficiency and equity. It also provides an analytical framework for assessment of the Australian health care system, and health policy generally, from an economic perspective.

Outcomes

The learning goals associated with this unit are to:

understand basic microeconomic concepts and their application to the health sector
understand role, limitations and usefulness of economic analysis and economics as a way of thinking, particularly when applied to the health care sector
understand organisation and delivery of health services from an economic perspective
understand the Australian Health Care system from an economic perspective, including an analysis of the reasons for growth in expenditure.

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 50%
Examination: 50%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. Independent study may include associated readings, assessment and preparation for scheduled activities. The unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Agne Suziedelyte

Prohibitions

ECX9700