Welcome to Health Economics 101—a dynamic and essential course for anyone ready to understand and influence the forces driving today’s health care systems.

Health care is one of the most complex and costly sectors in every economy—and yet, it’s also one of the most personal. Behind every policy decision, hospital investment, insurance premium, or innovation lies a fundamental economic question: How can we deliver better health outcomes with the resources we have?

This course is your gateway to answering that question—and much more.

Whether you’re a policymaker, health professional, economist, manager, or student, you’ll gain the tools to understand how health systems work, why costs keep rising, and what can be done to make care more accessible, equitable, and efficient. You’ll explore the decisions people make when facing illness, the role of governments in shaping health markets, and how economists evaluate the true value of a medical innovation.

Across 10 modules, you’ll dive into:

  • Foundational concepts like scarcity, opportunity cost, and equity, that explain why trade-offs are inevitable in health care
  • Supply and demand dynamics that shape everything from insurance markets to hospital services
  • The economic rationale behind health care as a unique good—and why markets alone can’t deliver optimal outcomes
  • The inner workings of health insurance, including risk management, moral hazard, and market failures
  • Practical techniques in economic evaluation—including cost-effectiveness and cost-utility analysis—that guide real-world policy decisions
  • A tour of global health systems, from the Beveridge model to private markets, and the financing strategies that sustain them
  • How competition, payment incentives, and provider behavior interact to drive quality and cost
  • Strategies to measure and promote equity and efficiency in health care delivery
  • The critical role of health policy and regulation, especially in overseeing new technologies and pharmaceuticals
  • And finally, we’ll explore emerging frontiers in health economics—pandemics, digital health, and the future of financing sustainable care

By the end of the course, you’ll see health care through a new lens: as a system of trade-offs, incentives, and opportunities for reform. More importantly, you’ll be equipped with the knowledge to contribute meaningfully to solutions—locally, nationally, or globally.

Health economics is not just about numbers—it’s about better decisions for better health.

Join us and discover how economic thinking can change the way we design, finance, and deliver care for generations to come.

Here is the outline of topics that will be covered in this Health Economics 101 course:

1. Introduction to Health Economics

  • Definition and Scope of Health Economics
  • Importance of Health Economics in Policy and Practice
  • Key Concepts: Scarcity, Opportunity Cost, Efficiency, and Equity
  • The Role of Health Economists

2. Demand and Supply of Health Care

  • Demand for Health and Health Care
  • Factors Influencing Health Care Demand (Income, Prices, Insurance)
  • Elasticity of Demand for Health Services
  • Supply of Health Services and Market Structures in Health Care

3. Health as an Economic Good

  • Unique Characteristics of Health and Health Care
  • Market Failures in Health Care (Externalities, Asymmetric Information, Public Goods)
  • Role of Government in Health Care Markets

4. Health Insurance and Risk Management

  • The Concept of Insurance in Health Economics
  • Types of Health Insurance (Public vs. Private)
  • Moral Hazard and Adverse Selection
  • Insurance Market Failures and Regulation

5. Economic Evaluation in Health Care

  • Introduction to Cost-Effectiveness Analysis (CEA), Cost-Utility Analysis (CUA), and Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA)
  • Measuring Costs in Health Care (Direct, Indirect, and Intangible Costs)
  • Measuring Health Outcomes (QALYs, DALYs)
  • Applications of Economic Evaluation in Policy Decision-Making

6. Health Systems and Health Care Financing

  • Overview of Health Care Systems (Beveridge, Bismarck, Private, Mixed)
  • Health Financing Mechanisms (Taxes, Social Insurance, Private Insurance, Out-of-Pocket Payments)
  • Comparing Health Systems Across Countries

7. Market Competition and Provider Payment Mechanisms

  • Types of Payment Models (Fee-for-Service, Capitation, DRGs, Pay-for-Performance)
  • Impact of Payment Models on Health Provider Behavior
  • Competition vs. Regulation in Health Care Markets

8. Equity and Efficiency in Health Care

  • Defining Equity and Efficiency in Health Economics
  • Measuring Health Inequality and Access to Care
  • Policy Interventions to Improve Equity

9. Health Policy and Regulation

  • The Role of Governments in Health Policy
  • Regulation of Pharmaceuticals and Health Technologies
  • The Impact of Public Policies on Health Outcomes

10. Current Issues and Future Directions in Health Economics

  • The Economics of Pandemics and Global Health Crises
  • Digital Health and Health Economics
  • The Future of Health Care Financing and Sustainability
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ValueVitals

Value Vitals helps healthcare leaders meet and exceed their goals. With over two decades of experience in healthcare consulting, Value Vitals leverages the power of the Science of Value, Technology & Programming, and Industry Know-how to overcome barriers and drive results that exceed expectations.