| Effective Term: | 2025/05 |
| Institute / School : | Institute of Health and Wellbeing |
| Unit Title: | Public Health Economics |
| Unit ID: | HEAPH7003 |
| Credit Points: | 30.00 |
| Prerequisite(s): | (HEALT6001 and HEALT6002 and HEALT7002 and HEAPH6003 and HEAPH6004) |
| Co-requisite(s): | Nil |
| Exclusion(s): | Nil |
| ASCED: | 061399 |
| Other Change: | |
| Brief description of the Unit |
This unit will build technical and theoretical foundations of health economics i.e. the demand for and supply of health services, factors that influence these, and equity issues in resource allocation and will encourage students to apply these to wider policy making. It will also increase students ability to use economic tools in the evaluation of disease burden, (DALYs and QALYs), analysis for health care in terms of efficiency and equity. Students will also learn contemporary issues such as estimating expenditure on public health, “best buys” in public health, and the role of economic tools such as price subsidisation and commodity taxation in public health. It will also provide analytical framework for assessment of the health care systems of Australian and OECD countries from an economic perspective. |
| Grade Scheme: | Graded (HD, D, C, P, MF, F, XF) |
| Work Experience Indicator: |
| No work experience |
| Placement Component: No |
| Supplementary Assessment:Yes |
| Where supplementary assessment is available a student must have failed overall in the Unit but gained a final mark of 45 per cent or above, has completed all major assessment tasks (including all sub-components where a task has multiple parts) as specified in the Unit Description and is not eligible for any other form of supplementary assessment |
| Course Level: |
| Level of Unit in Course | AQF Level(s) of Course | | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | | Introductory | | | | | | | | Intermediate | | | | |  | | | Advanced | | | | | | |
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| Learning Outcomes: |
| Knowledge: |
| K1. | Understand basic microeconomic concepts and their application to the health sector; |
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| K2. | Understand role, limitations and usefulness of economic evaluation of disease burden in both developing and developed country context; |
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| K3. | Explain resource allocation and public health expenditure estimation strategies. |
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| Skills: |
| S1. | Analyse the demand and supply of health services, factors that influence these, and equity issues in resource allocation; |
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| S2. | Apply the principles of economic evaluation in assessing burden of diseases that are of national interest. |
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| S3. | Analyse the economic principles that underpin health care financing and expenditure decisions by the government |
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| Application of knowledge and skills: |
| A1. | Demonstrate ability to apply principles of health economics for decision making in health care funding such as universal health care, Medicare, pharmaceutical benefit scheme. |
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| A2. | Apply conceptual and methodological issues arising in the economic appraisal of health care programs |
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| A3. | Ability to estimate the expenditure on public health, “best buys” in public health. |
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| Unit Content: |
Introduction to health economics. Models of demand for health and health care. Socio-economic disparities in health. Supply of health care e.g. physicians, pharmaceuticals and hospitals. Market economics and ‘best buy’ in health. The economics of health externalities. Economic epidemiology, elasticity of health. Social and financial risk protection and equity in health. Types of economic evaluation: cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and cost effectiveness analysis (CEA). Cost utility analysis e.g. Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) or Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) to measure the impact of health interventions in terms of health, Health expenditure and resource allocation in both developing and developed country perspectives. |
| Graduate Attributes: |
| Federation University recognises that students require key transferable employability skills to prepare them for their future workplace and society. FEDTASKS (Transferable Attributes Skills and Knowledge) provide a targeted focus on five key transferable Attributes, Skills, and Knowledge that are be embedded within curriculum, developed gradually towards successful measures and interlinked with cross-discipline and Co-operative Learning opportunities. One or more FEDTASK, transferable Attributes, Skills or Knowledge must be evident in the specified learning outcomes and assessment for each FedUni Unit, and all must be directly assessed in each Course.
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| FED TASK and descriptor | Development and acquisition of FEDTASKS in the Unit | | Level | FEDTASK 1
Interpersonal | Students at this level will demonstrate an advanced ability in a range of contexts to effectively communicate, interact and work with others both individually and in groups. Students will be required to display high level skills in-person and/or online in: • Using and demonstrating a high level of verbal and non-verbal communication • Demonstrating a mastery of listening for meaning and influencing via active listening • Demonstrating and showing empathy for others • High order skills in negotiating and conflict resolution skills\\ • Demonstrating mastery of working respectfully in cross-cultural and diverse teams. | 1 - Yes | FEDTASK 2
Leadership | Students at this level will demonstrate a mastery in professional skills and behaviours in leading others. • Creating and sustaining a collegial environment • Demonstrating a high level of self -awareness and the ability to self-reflect and justify decisions • Inspiring and initiating opportunities to lead others • Making informed professional decisions • Demonstrating initiative in new professional situations. | 1 - Yes | FEDTASK 3
Critical Thinking and Creativity | Students at this level will demonstrate high level skills in working in complexity and ambiguity using the imagination to create new ideas. Students will be required to display skills in: • Reflecting critically to generate and consider complex ideas and concepts at an abstract level • Analysing complex and abstract ideas, concepts and information • Communicate alternative perspectives to justify complex ideas • Demonstrate a mastery of challenging conventional thinking to clarify complex concepts • Forming creative solutions in problem solving to new situations for further learning. | 1 - Yes | FEDTASK 4
Digital Literacy | Students at this level will demonstrate the ability to work competently across a wide range of tools, platforms and applications to achieve a range of tasks. Students will be required to display skills in: • Mastering, exploring, evaluating, managing, curating, organising and sharing digital information professionally • Collating, managing complex data, accessing and using digital data securely • Receiving and responding professionally to messages in a range of professional digital media • Contributing competently and professionally to digital teams and working groups • Participating at a high level in digital learning opportunities. | 1 - Yes | FEDTASK 5
sustainable and Ethical Mindset | Students at this level will demonstrate a mastery of considering and assessing the consequences and impact of ideas and actions in enacting professional ethical and sustainable decisions. Students will be required to display skills in: • Demonstrate informed judgment making that considers the impact of devising complex solutions in ambiguous global economic environmental and societal contexts • Professionally committing to the promulgation of social responsibility • Demonstrate the ability to evaluate ethical, socially responsible and/or sustainable challenges and generating and articulating responses • Communicating lifelong, life-wide and life-deep learning to be open to the diverse professional others • Generating, leading and implementing required actions to foster sustainability in their professional and personal life | 1 - Yes |
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| | Learning Outcomes Assessed | Assessment Tasks | Assessment Type | Weighting | | 1. | K1, K2, K3, S1, S2, S3, A1, A2, A3 | Structured quiz | Online quiz | 10% - 30% | | 2. | K2, K3, S1, S2, S3, A1, A2, A3 | Written task: Analysis of healthcare system of a chosen country to establish interdependent relationship between economics, health care and public health | Critical Analysis Essay | 30% -50% | | 3. | K1, K2, K3, S1, S2, S3, A1, A2, A3 | Prepare a project concept note on the economic evaluation of a public health intervention in a chosen country | Group presentation (3-4 students in each group) | 40% - 60% |
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