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At the end of the module, students should be able to:
Knowledge
• Explain how and why health and healthcare are like and unlike other economic goods or commodities;
• Describe the role of supply and demand in a market economy in general and the nature of medical care
markets, specifically;
• Explain the major aspects of health insurance and its role in healthcare;
• Understand and apply methods for handling of uncertainty in an economic evaluation;
• Understand the nature and relevance of modeling in health economic evaluation;
• Understand the concepts and goals underlying early Health Technology Assessment;
• Describe the nature and roles of financial and management accounting taking into account heath care
organizations;
• Understand how to measure the financial position and performance of a health care organization;
• Explain what depression is and its control and management taking into account the context of young
adults;
• Learn how to set-up the (organizational) structure of a health care program;
Skills
• Define the mechanisms in the provision of healthcare especially health financing;
• Apply a break-even analysis to inform business economic decision-making;
• Perform a critical appraisal of an economic evaluation;
• Design an economic evaluation study consisting of a well-defined research question, a comprehensive
description of the competing alternatives, the perspective and time horizon, including a costing study
and an effectiveness study for the competing alternatives defining all relevant costs and health effects;
• Design and perform an economic evaluation by integrating the analyses above into a cost-effectiveness
ratio dealing with uncertainty and interpreting the results in terms of health care decision making;
• Recognize the importance of cash flows statement and be able to analyze and interpret financial
statements;
• Realize (and apply) different cost allocation methods and determine service costs, and their effects
on financial statements;
• Confer the changes in the business world and the management techniques settled to maintain
businesses competitiveness;
• Deal with the way in which businesses convert their objectives and long-term plans into workable
short-term plans;
• Clarify the processes related to planning, control and budgeting, and interpret differences between
plan and actual to assess business efficiency;
• Appreciate and manage the complexity of developing and funding a health care program;
• Apply knowledge gained from the taught part of the module in writing a business case;
Attitude
• Ease into studying material regularly and consistently;
• Handle workflow and interpersonal relationships professionally;
• Further increased independence (in particular in supporting elements of health economic evaluations);
• Further increased critical attitude (in particular when assessing design and outcomes of reported health
economic evaluations);
• Be aware of the changes in the business world and the management techniques settled to maintain
businesses competitiveness;
• Enhance ability to work as a member of a large group/team including taking responsibility for
independent contribution and cooperating to reach group aims; and,
• Recognize the difference between presentation for/before a scientific/academic audience and a business
audience and striking a balance between the two in the health sector.
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Mental disorders are increasingly becoming leading causes of population ill-health. Since today’s societies, with mostly knowledge-, service- and innovation driven economies, are exerting pressure on the cognitive, social and creative skills of people, the burden of mental disorders are unlikely to decrease in the near future. Simple phobia, social phobia, depression, dysthymia and alcohol dependence are all prevalent mental disorders or disorders that tend to persist over time. While inflammation is neither necessary nor sufficient to induce or sustain depression and dysthymia, it clearly plays an important role in a substantial subpopulation.
In consideration of the challenge before local governments, health insurers, health care providers etc. of coming up with appropriate and cost-effective services for society, and given the goal of the BSc in Health Sciences of harnessing health improvers, the module Health Economics and Accounting will provide students with theoretical training in the economics of health and healthcare, economic evaluation and accounting as well as soft skills in program development and marketing. Combined with the creative and critical thinking of students, innovative processes and “products” for at-risk young adults will be developed.
The project “On guard. Cost-effective care for young adults at high risk for depression” will involve developing a business case for a package of health services to young adults at risk for depression taking into account the clinical, economic and financial aspects of living with depression. The goal is to tap into and develop further the with regards to the prevention and early diagnosis of depression among young adults. How students will build on the individualistic clinical interventions that currently exist and deal with the “maximization of health gain” versus “distribution of health gains” challenge towards their respective group business cases will be testament to the “personal touch” that students can offer.
To support students in their project work, they will be armed with theoretical skills that will allow them to appreciate the causes and consequences of the growing and changing demand for elderly care including the (macro) socio-economic and (meso) financial aspects of care processes and products. Key concepts that will be covered include the supply (of health care) and (derived) demand (for health care) and (health care) market. In addition, the concepts of efficiency and cost-effectiveness will be tackled given the challenge of balancing scarce resources with the wants and needs of the population.
In addition to the fundamentals of (health) economics, students will likewise be afforded important, principal training in management with a focus on financial and management accounting. The meso (i.e. organizational) level impact of and actions on macro (i.e. health care system) developments will be made clear with the understanding of the indicators of high-performing (business) organizations and the processes that are necessary toward strategically managing challenges and opportunities. Key topics such as planning and control, budgeting and purchasing will be treated both generally and specific to health care.
For the project, students will develop a portfolio of products, which corresponds to the different needs and capabilities of young adults at risk for depression, reflects current evidence on (cost)effectiveness and derives the costs of and revenues from these products. Students shall combine various resources (from healthcare setting, manpower, new technologies etc.) in an innovative way (i.e. in conjunction with new, improved processes, change in the intensity of care/service) to produce various (health) care and living forms (e.g. at/close to home, community-based etc.) for young adults.
In the course of developing the project, students will apply the theoretical knowledge they have learned or are being introduced to as they confront operational issues as well as critique the initial design of their products. These cover various concepts such as cost-effectiveness, Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALY), return on investment (ROI), budget, etc. The business case is aimed at translating evidence-based care into practice with real-world application towards improving the delivery of comprehensive health services and maximizing health gains of young adults.
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| | Required materialsBook| McLaney E, Atrill P. 2018. Accounting and Finance: An Introduction, 9th edition. Pearson, (ISBN 978-1-292-20448-2 (print) • ISBN 978-1-292-20450-5 (eText) |
| Book| “Economic Analysis in Healthcare" van Morris, Druk 2, ISBN 9781119951490 |
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Recommended materialsBook| Drummond MF, et al. Methods for the economic evaluation of health care programmes. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2015. (ISBN-10: 0198529457) |
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Instructional modesAssessment| Presence duty | | Yes |
| Final thesis| Presence duty | | Yes |
| Lecture| Presence duty | | Yes |
| Practical| Presence duty | | Yes |
| Self study with assistance| Presence duty | | Yes |
| Self study without assistance| Presence duty | | Yes |
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TestsOn guard: Cost-effective care for young
| Health care economics and financing
| Economic evaluation in health care
| Financial and management accounting
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