Health Economics

Educational objectives

Knowledge and understanding: Students will understand the economic theory of health and healthcare, including models of demand and supply of health and health care, demand for insurance, health and healthcare policy. The emphasis will be on key economic concepts that health economists use to analyse health and healthcare markets. The students will also learn to interpret empirical findings in health economics and health policy.
Applying knowledge and understanding: Students will be able to describe, both theoretically and through empirical evidence, the determinants of health, health disparities, unhealthy behaviours and health insurance. They will also be able to apply key concept of economics to issues in health policy.
Making judgement: Students will have the capacity for independent judgement on issues related to health and healthcare and to the evaluation of health policy programmes.
Communication skills: They will have the ability to present convincingly the empirical evidence and the economic theory to support a point of view or policy recommendation.
Learning skills: Students will be able to apply descriptive statistical analysis and economic reasoning to topics in health economics and health policy.

Educational objectives

Knowledge and understanding: This course uses tools form microeconomic theory to study the characteristics of healthcare markets and understand the motivation of government intervention in these markets. The study of government regulation, including their theoretical and empirical impacts on health care markets, will be integrated throughout these topics.
Applying knowledge and understanding: The course aims at making students able to apply concepts of industrial organization and economics of market regulation to analyse central questions in health care today, as well as fundamental issues in health policy: for example, what is the current role of the government in the health sector, and what it should it be? What is the social insurance role of the government, and how is it played out in policies that impact the health of the population? How are physician and pharmaceutical markets structured?
Making judgement: Students will develop the ability to judge autonomously, from a theoretical and practical perspective, healthcare market structures according to efficiency and equity criteria. Students will also be able to study and understand the implications of policy interventions in these markets.
Communication skills: Students will develop the ability to communicate specific issues related to healthcare markets to specialist and non-specialist interlocutors. These skills will be tested both by asking students to prepare an oral presentation to the class and to write essays on specific topics selected in agreement with the instructor.
Learning Skills: Students will acquire in-depth knowledge of the main healthcare market models, their regulations and on the main models to evaluate policy intervention on the health sector. They will also be able to elaborate autonomously research questions that can be further developed in the final dissertation.

Educational objectives

Knowledge and understanding: Students will understand the economic theory of health and healthcare, including models of demand and supply of health and health care, demand for insurance, health and healthcare policy. The emphasis will be on key economic concepts that health economists use to analyse health and healthcare markets. The students will also learn to interpret empirical findings in health economics and health policy.
Applying knowledge and understanding: Students will be able to describe, both theoretically and through empirical evidence, the determinants of health, health disparities, unhealthy behaviours and health insurance. They will also be able to apply key concept of economics to issues in health policy.
Making judgement: Students will have the capacity for independent judgement on issues related to health and healthcare and to the evaluation of health policy programmes.
Communication skills: They will have the ability to present convincingly the empirical evidence and the economic theory to support a point of view or policy recommendation.
Learning skills: Students will be able to apply descriptive statistical analysis and economic reasoning to topics in health economics and health policy.

Educational objectives

Knowledge and understanding: The course aims to develop interdisciplinary Hygiene and Epidemiology skills needed by health economists, including knowledge of health systems, Evidence-Based Medicine, health promotion, Clinical Governance principles, and methods for assessing the appropriateness and performance of health policies and interventions.
Applying knowledge and understanding: The course aims to enable students to use the basics of EBM to evaluate interventions in healthcare organizations and to adopt professional behaviour based on the principles of Clinical Governance, in line with the principles of equity, effectiveness, and cost-efficiency in healthcare.
Making judgement: Students will develop the ability to independently judge health programs from a theoretical and practical point of view, based on the principles of effectiveness, efficiency, and equity, also based on national planning objectives.
Communication skills: Students will develop the ability to communicate information about disease distribution, health determinants, and the effectiveness of therapeutic and preventive health interventions. Communication of the results of economic evaluations of health programs will also be addressed.
Learning Skills: Students will acquire a thorough knowledge of the main epidemiological study designs; they will know how to use quantitative tools to describe the distribution of diseases and their determinants in the population, also reasoning in terms of global health; they will know how to adopt professional behaviour based on the principles of Clinical Governance.

Educational objectives

Conoscenza e capacità di comprensione: gli studenti saranno in grado di fare propri i principi fondamentali dell'inferenza statistica e della modellazione del rischio in relazione a differenti disegni campionari in economia sanitaria. Gli studenti impareranno anche quali modelli statistici sono più appropriati in situazioni differenti.
Capacità di Applicare Conoscenza e Comprensione: gli studenti saranno in grado di analizzare dati clinici e di sanità pubblica, univariati o multivariati, attraverso l'uso di modelli statistici appropriati. Gli studenti saranno inoltre in grado di utilizzare vari strumenti analitici e numerici tramite il linguaggio R, e saranno in grado di interpretare i risultati dell'analisi in modo appropriato.
Autonomia di giudizio: gli studenti saranno in grado di valutare indipendentemente la validità e sensitività delle conclusioni tratte da un'analisi statistica e prendere decisioni basate sui risultati in relazione alla valutazione del rischio in contesti clinici o di sanità pubblica.
Abilità comunicative: gli studenti avranno la capacità di comunicare in maniera efficace i principali aspetti di un'analisi a professionisti o a un pubblico generale, sia che si tratti di un'analisi semplice o di una più complessa.
Capacità di apprendimento: gli studenti saranno incoraggiati ad applicare tecniche per risolvere problemi analiticamente e indipendentemente usando il pensiero critico.

Educational objectives

Knowledge and understanding: By the end of the course, students will have the basic knowledge of microeconomics and macroeconomics necessary to proceed to more advanced economics courses of the Master’s program. They will grasp the logic of economic choices when resources are limited.
Applying knowledge and understanding: Students will be able to apply the economic reasoning to individual decisions, business strategies, and the formulation of economic policies by countries.
Making judgement: Students will have the ability to critically evaluate relevant trade-offs in economic decisions.
Communication skills: Students will have the ability to clearly communicate the motivations behind economic choices.
Learning skills: Students will be able to apply economic reasoning to topics in economics and economic policy.

Educational objectives

Knowledge and understanding: The course introduces the study of public economics applied to the analysis of health and the healthcare sector. The aim is to provide the tools and knowledge necessary to evaluate the reasons for state intervention in healthcare, the organization of healthcare systems, and the issues related to healthcare system financing. By the end of the course, students will gain a deep understanding of the fundamental principles of public finance as applied to healthcare systems and understand the mechanisms of healthcare system financing.
Applying knowledge and understanding: Students will be able to apply theoretical principles to evaluate public policies in the healthcare sector, use economic analysis tools to assess the impact of financial decisions on healthcare systems, and analyse financing and resource allocation mechanisms in national and international healthcare contexts.
Making judgement: Students will develop the ability to critically evaluate public policies concerning healthcare finance, considering ethical, social, and economic aspects, discuss solutions to address financial challenges in healthcare systems, and assess the implications of financial decisions on healthcare provision.
Communication skills: Students will develop the ability to communicate complex concepts related to public finance in healthcare systems clearly and to present arguments based on empirical and theoretical evidence to support healthcare policy recommendations.
Learning skills: Students will cultivate a critical and reflective approach to examining public finance issues in the healthcare field and develop the ability to learn autonomously and continuously.

Educational objectives

Knowledge and Understanding: The primary objective of this course is to equip students with the necessary skills required for using the statistical software Stata. It will provide an overview of Stata’s main functions and their application using real economic data. The syllabus includes data management, data visualization and basic regression analysis, including Ordinary Least Squares and Fixed Effects estimation methods. A significant portion of the course will focus on familiarising students with the software, coding, conducting analyses and interpreting results.
Applying Knowledge and Understanding: This course places a strong emphasis on practical application through exercises in each lecture, enabling students to gain hands-on experience with Stata by: creating new datasets from raw data, generating charts and maps and conducting statistical and econometric analyses. In addition, group assignments will be a crucial part of the learning process.
Communication Skills: Group projects aim to enhance both collaborative and communication skills. Through group assignments, students will improve their ability to interpret and communicate statistical findings and methodological decisions clearly in written form.
Learning Skills
By the end of this course, students are expected to be capable of independently carrying out basic empirical analyses using Stata. They will develop analytical skills necessary for responding to research questions with empirical evidence, thereby supporting their master thesis or other academic activities.

Educational objectives

Knowledge and understanding: The course aims to provide students with the necessary skills to adopt a process-oriented quality management and enhancement approach. Students will learn how to evaluate continuous improvement strategies, recognize the significance of quality management within healthcare organizations, and examine examples of effective implementation of lean management in healthcare environments. By the end of the course, students will have gained a comprehensive understanding of quality management principles and strategies that can be fruitfully applied in healthcare organizations.
Applying knowledge and understanding: Students will be able to effectively implement improvement tools and performance metrics to ongoing enhancement and to incremental and transformative innovation in healthcare.
Making judgement: Students will develop an autonomous and rigorous capacity for judgment regarding the functioning, management, and managerial policies through the interpretation of threats and opportunities of the external environment and the evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of healthcare organizations.
Communication skills: Students will learn the appropriate language and communication skills to address healthcare management issues.
Learning skills: At the end of the course students will have basic knowledge and skills to
successfully operate within public and private health organizations.

Educational objectives

Knowledge and understanding:
Students will be able to understand the theoretical background of the pharmacoeconomics evaluation techniques, in the fields of Biopharmaceutical Industry, with particular regard to cost-minimization analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis, cost-utility analysis and cost-benefit analysis.
Applying knowledge and understanding
Students will be able to use the modelling frameworks, the budget impact analysis and the patient reported outcomes through examples taken from national and international literature and the help of case studies, with a specific focus on data sources and accounting for uncertainty.
Making judgement
Students will develop an autonomous judgment capability on a theoretical and practical perspective related to pharmacoeconomics and outcome research.
Communication skills
Students will develop an attitude for pharmacoeconomic reasoning and the capacity for argumentation on the economic evaluation of biopharmaceutical innovation.
Learning skills
Students will be able to deal with other subjects of the health economics field thanks to the principles and practice of pharmacoeconomics and of outcome research

Educational objectives

Knowledge and Understanding: This course aims to introduce students to the most significant aspects of the right to health, by examining both supranational and national regulations that shape modern healthcare systems. Furthermore, the course provides a thorough understanding of the institutional framework underpinning contemporary healthcare systems.
Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: Students will be able to apply their acquired skills to analyze institutional frameworks. They will propose innovative solutions to legal issues within the healthcare sector by assessing various regulatory approaches.
Making judgment: Students will gather and interpret legislative and regulatory data for analyzing concrete cases in the healthcare domain and will demonstrate the capacity to exercise independent judgment in making decisions.
Communication Skills: Students will acquire the ability to effectively communicate their legal knowledge concerning healthcare matters, as well as the problems and solutions they have identified within their expertise. They will be able to convey these concepts to both specialist and non-specialist audiences.
Learning Skills: Students will be equipped with the necessary learning skills to pursue higher-level studies independently.

Educational objectives

Knowledge and understanding: Students will understand the concepts of Performance, Performance Cycle, Performance Tree and Performance indicators in healthcare organizations. Students will also understand the meaning and the appropriate use of the main methods and indicators for monitoring the health of the population and the activities of the health services.
Applying knowledge and understanding: Students will be able to describe the main methods of Performance evaluation and to know which one is more suitable to the situation presented. They will be able to search for the appropriate information to describe a specific health context and to apply the appropriate method of analysis.
Making judgement: Students will acquire the ability of independent judgement on issues related to Performance evaluation in healthcare. Through the analysis of examples taken from the literature they will be able to choose the most appropriate Performance evaluation method to compare different geographical contexts, pre-defined objectives, and different organizational levels.
Communication skills: Students will have the ability to critically discuss examples of Performance evaluation systems used in healthcare. They will have the ability to simulate a congress speech by delivering to the classroom a Power Point presentation on a short health evaluation report.
Learning skills: Students will be able to apply descriptive and analytical statistics to analyse simple dataset and to report the results following the structured form of a scientific article.

Educational objectives

Knowledge and Understanding: Students will learn the fundamental methodologies and approaches used in policy evaluation, focusing on economic questions and data analysis. The course will cover essential analytical tools, including linear and nonlinear regression models, randomized control trials, and the instrumental variable approach. Furthermore, the course will cover more advanced policy evaluation methods, such as the regression discontinuity design, the difference-in-differences approach, and Machine Learning for causal inference. The emphasis will be on understanding the strengths and limitations of each method in evaluating policies.
Applying Knowledge and Understanding: Participants will gain hands-on experience in applying these methodologies to real-world policy issues. This practical application will enable students to critically assess the design and outcomes of policy evaluations, considering the potential threats to internal validity and the implications of the findings for policy-making. They will learn to formulate independent analyses to evaluate the efficacy of policies and their impact on society.
Communication Skills: Students will enhance their skills in analysing policy evaluation findings verbally and in writing. This includes crafting clear and convincing narratives around empirical evidence and methodological approaches to support policy recommendations.
Learning Skills: By the end of the course, students will be adept at applying statistical analysis and economic reasoning to various topics in economics and policy evaluation. They will be equipped to conduct policy evaluations, interpret existing research, and contribute to evidence-based policy-making.

Educational objectives

Knowledge and understanding: Students will learn the role of public health and health sector in the economic development of countries; they will be able to understand the relevance of health in the human capital accumulation process and therefore in the process of economic and social growth; They will also be able to understand the role of the health sector in a globalized world where the international circulation of goods, services and people is at the same time a challenge and an opportunity for the populations.
Applying knowledge and understanding: Students will be able to use the logical and analytical methods to understand the theories of growth and economic development that consider the health factor as a fundamental variable to their realization.
Making judgement: The students will develop an autonomous capacity of judgement, in a theoretical and practical perspective, on the economic analysis of the "health system" and of its social-economic consequences.
Communication skills: Students will develop the aptitude for economic reasoning and the ability to argumentation on economic and social topics.
Learning skills: Students will be able to address other theoretical and quantitative economic discipline thanks to what was learned during the course.