Description

This course deals, primarily, with research in economics on health care. Students will study the production of health itself and the role of health in consumption of medical resources viewed through the lens of economics models. However, the main focus of the course will follow the main focus of health economics as a field: how medical care is produced and financed, in both private and public sectors. This course will examine the allocation of resources for healthcare and health promotion. Students with develop a clear understanding of the components of health systems, and how the financial, human and capital resources used are financed (where the money comes from), how resources are allocated across the system (funding) and the influence of health professional remuneration (payment) on services organization and delivery. The material for the course will consist both of the description and discussion of problems in medical services financing and delivery and analysis of how medical markets work. This will include studying such matters as why health insurance exists, whether hospital competition leads to efficient allocation of resources and production, the role of the physician in patient choice and the role for government and market interventions in correcting potential inefficiencies.

Program

MBA

Objectives

• By the end of this course, each student should be able to: 1. Review the costs and benefits of additional health care spending. 2. Develop tools for analyzing the efficiency of health care spending. 3. View health as a consumption and investment good. 4. Analyze demand for health services as derived from demand for health. 5. Apply critical concepts of moral hazard and selection to insurance markets. 6. Understand the sources of public and private health insurance. 7. Apply this analysis to understand equilibrium in health markets. 8. Identify the ways in which resources are allocated to each of the key components of health systems, ranging from health promotion/prevention through treatment and aftercare services. 9. Demonstrate an understanding of the role of governance, funding and financing arrangements on how resources are allocated with implications for efficiency and equity. 10. Conduct comparative analysis of health system governance, funding and financing arrangements across jurisdictions. 11. Identify key current reform (proposals or underway) of health care funding and resource allocation across Canada and in selected other countries. 12. Assess proposed reforms (proposals or underway) for their feasibility in the Canadian context at the national, provincial/territorial and health region levels to understand barriers and opportunities to implementation.