Admission requirements
Required course(s):
None.
This course assumes no background in economics, but in the month before the first class or in the first weeks of the course, students who have never taken economics should plan some extra time to learn some economics background knowledge through provided supplementary videos and material.
Description
In this course, we study health outcomes, health systems, and health policies through the lens of economic concepts and theories. We explore how economic concepts, such as efficiency, choice and opportunity costs, competition, incentives, labor supply, market failure, and asymmetric information, help us understand health systems and the formulation of health policy. We first learn alternative economic theories and their applications in health systems, then critically evaluate and reflect on the consequences and limitations of applying these economic concepts in the field of health care and public health. We will learn about alternative approaches to economic evaluation, such as cost-effectiveness analysis, cost-benefit analysis, and cost-consequence analysis, through practice evaluating real-world examples during in-class workshops.
We explore how economic concepts have been applied in different dimensions of the health system, defined by the World Health Organization’s “building blocks”: (1) service delivery, (2) health workforce, (3) health information systems, (4) access to essential medicines, (5) financing, and (6) leadership/governance. This enables us to study interdependencies of these components at the health systems level. We will comparatively analyze health systems and policies across a diverse range of countries, which is driven by the set of countries selected by participants where one participant will serve as our in-house expert on a specific country.
Course Objectives
After successful completion of this course, students are able to:
Skills:
- Apply economic concepts to real-world policy relevant contexts
- Generate effective data visualizations for policy communication
- Conduct economic evaluations of health care programs and policies
Content:
- Understand economic concepts relevant for health outcomes, systems, and policies
- Connect economic concepts to health system contexts
- Critique the application of economic concepts in health systems
- Develop deep case knowledge of one country’s health system
- Compare health systems and policies across contexts
- Understand the strengths and limitations of alternative economic evaluation approaches
Timetable
Timetables for courses offered at Leiden University College in 2024-2025 will be published on this page of the e-Prospectus.
Mode of instruction
This course expects students to learn economic concepts through videos and readings and in class we will focus on applying that learning through group exercises, debates, and interactive discussions. We will practice comparison of health systems through interactive exercises where each participant is an in-house expert for one country’s health system. We will have in-class workshop to practice different approaches to economic evaluation, which students then apply in a specific evaluation project.
Assessment Method
Engagement in class and country health system reports, Weeks 1-7 – 15%
Data visualization assignment, weeks 2-3 – 10%
Economic evaluation project, weeks 5-6 – 30%
Final exam – 45%, Week 8
Reading list
- Lorna Guinness, Virginia Wiseman, Introduction to Health Economics, 2nd edition UK: McGraw-Hill Education, 2011.
Additional readings and videos will be posted on the Brightspace page.
Registration
Courses offered at Leiden University College (LUC) are usually only open to LUC students and LUC exchange students. Leiden University students who participate in one of the university’s Honours tracks or programmes may register for one LUC course, if availability permits. Registration is coordinated by the Education Coordinator, course.administration@luc.leidenuniv.nl.
Contact
Dr. Kristin Makszin, k.m.makszin@luc.leidinuniv.nl
Remarks
Check Brightspace for the preparation before the first class.