Study how health economics and technology impact clinical outcomes and decision-making in this free online course.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), health is ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of diseases and infirmity’. Health economics focuses on the efficiency, value and behaviour in the production and consumption of healthcare. It aims to improve healthcare through the concepts of economic discipline. We'll walk you through the various notions and examine how to use them to improve the healthcare system. We discuss critical economic ideas, including microeconomics, macroeconomics, demand and supply and globalisation. You'll learn about the two aspects of economics and their analysis of allocating scarce resources to improve healthcare. In addition, you'll study the importance and function of health economics and the relationship between the expenditure on healthcare services and the health status of a population.

We develop health technologies through devices, machines, drugs and vaccines to improve healthcare procedures and systems. We'll help you with the basic concepts of health technology, the effectiveness, use, cost and impact of these health technologies and their need to be accessed. We'll help you understand the concept of health technology and show you the step-by-step process of assessing it. You'll study the externalities and their influence on healthcare service provision and investigate how you can correct market failures and why governments intervene in the healthcare market.

After an assessment, decisions are made based on the outcome. We show you decision-making using HTA and the difference between health economics and HTA. During an evaluation, you obtain evidence-based information through 'cost-effectiveness analysis' or 'cost-benefit analysis' to improve decision-making in allocating scarce healthcare resources. You will learn about economic evaluation, its types, importance and equity in economic evaluation. We regard health insurance as a contract that demands an insurer (a person or company that underwrites an insurance risk or is undertaking to pay compensation) to pay partly or entirely a person's healthcare cost in exchange for a premium. In this course, we will explain health insurance and its terminologies. Health economics targets the improvement of healthcare and lifestyle in society. This course is for all learners seeking to make a difference in their community. Are you a medical expert willing to learn how to solve health problems and improve the quality of life in your society? Enrol and start this course today.