Course Details

1. Describe the specificities of health care as an economic good, and use consumer choice theory to analyse the demand for health care
2. Describe the impact of health sector to the economy and design innovative methods to financing health services
3. Explain how the role of government in health care affects the market of health services, and analyze equilibrium, market failure and efficiency in competitive markets and government involvement in health care
4. Describe the production function and cost of health services and explain the structure, and performance in health care industry with respect to profit maximization models and goals other than profit maximization.
5. Explain and implement economic evaluation methods with an aim at informed decision making about the allocation of scarce resources based on effectiveness and efficiency
6. Describe the strategic planning of health services and develop the respective services in the local and national level using the appropriate tools to serve population needs
7. Explain pharmaceutical market operation and performance and design instruments for a national medicines policy taking into consideration the concept of equity

Principles and objectives of health systems. Peculiarities of the health market: asymmetric information, moral hazard, health as a public good, external social influences, monopolistic tendencies and state intervention

Demand for health services I. Theory of Consumer preferences in health services, individual demand curves of health services
Demand for health services II Determinants, elasticity, Grossman’s theory, and its application. Induced demand for health services

Production of health services. Inputs and outputs in the production of health services, production function  in the short run, isoquant curves,  production equilibrium and hospital revenues  

Costs and production. Cost function. Determinants in health insurance markets, applications, competitive and monopolistic market structure

Financing Health Systems and Services. Gathering, collection and provision of services, equity, justice and catastrophic payments. Retrospective and prospective methods of payment of suppliers. Health expenses, trends, and cost containment policies 

Cost and revenues in the supply of health services. Direct, indirect and hidden costs, healthcare costs in the short and long run, economies of scale. Methods of calculating costs (friction method, willingness to pay, human capital approach)

Economic evaluation methods. Analysis of cost minimization cost - benefit analysis, cost-effectiveness, cost - utility. Methods for measuring the outcomes (QALYs, DALYs, HLY)

Structure and characteristics of the pharmaceutical market. Interventions and the role of government in the drug market.

• Morris S., Devlin N., Parkin D (2007). Economic Analysis in Health Care. John Wiley and Sons

• Kyriopoulos J (2007) Health Economics. Papazisis edition
• Culyer A., Newhouse J., (2000) A Handbook of Health Economics: Volume 1A, London: Elsevier.
• Μaynard A. & Kanavos P., (2000) Health Economics: An Evolving Paradigm, Health Economics 9: 183-90.

The taught part of course is delivered to the students by means of lectures, conducted with the help of computer presentations. Lecture notes and presentations are available through the web for students to use in combination with the textbooks. Furthermore, quizzes, scenarios, exercises, and group work are used to achieve better understanding of the theory.