This is Dr. Angan Sengupta.
I am an Assistant Professor with Management
Department of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham in
its Bangalore campus.
In this module, we will try to learn some
basics about health economics.
Health economics as a subject it is evolving
very recently.
It has been defined by World Health Organization
Health is a state of complete physical, mental
and social wellbeing.
While Economics as a subject deal with the
scarcity of resources given unlimited wants.
Now when we talk about health economics we
often talk about healthcare as the commodity
being produced or supplied or as well as consumed
or demanded.
What this health economics do?
These health economists basically try to find
that what are the health outcomes, how it
should be valued.
How much shall be produced as a healthcare
or health outcome, how much should we demand
as a consumer or being a patient in terms
of better health or health status, which are
the alternative ways of producing a particular
health status and how to, you know, evaluate
its efficiency or effectiveness of a particular
mechanism, the planning, budgeting in terms
of the government, in terms of a hospital
and as well as monitoring or regulating a
healthcare services or a particular system.
Also the healthcare financing mechanism from
the individual level, household level or at
a community level.
We also try to understand the health insurances,
different prospective of health insurances,
why a person should buy health insurances
under which circumstances, the health insurances
should be priced and how it should be priced,
what about the market of health, healthcare
and activities such as insurance and all.
What are the market imperfections and how
in market these market imperfections actually
dealt with or prevailing in different healthcare
system, different countries and how has it
been regulated or is being regulated by different
systems?
While talking about health economics we will
primarily deal with micro economics where
it is basically a market dealing between the
healthcare proprietors and the consumer which
are basically the patients or individuals
or a household be preventive or a curative
care or palliative care whatever.
But at the same time macro economics also
has a significantly importance when it comes
to the government or you know the international
NGOs or other different organizations in terms
of what will be the healthcare budgeting,
what particular aspects of healthcare should
be provided free of cost that how a government
will decide that particular immunization or
all the immunization should be provided free
in which aspects privatization will be invited
and so on and so forth.
Basically in health economics we try to understand
the efficiency measured or maximizing the
efficiency or effectiveness given the resource
constraints.
It can be human resource, it can be medical
technology or medical resources.
While I talk about or while I say that of
late health economics as a subject is getting
more and more importance that is primarily
because during last few decades or the advancement
in science has been largely in encompassed
by the medical improvement.
And as well as the awareness level among the
consumers have also been increasing over the
period of time and with a larger awareness
and improvement of healthcare mechanism or
healthcare system or technology the people
have got different choices.
Once the choices are there, there comes the
cost because I have several choices and I
need to understand that what are the costs
associated with those choices.
And which are the benefits or extents of benefits
I am enjoying.
So I have to make a decision based on those
available choices and its cost associated
with relative benefits.
As a consumer, as a patient we have to do
that.
At the same time as the healthcare provider
a particular hospital or a government or a
private entity also needs to do that so that
the market play or works in an equilibrium.
So I hope that you enjoy your learning and
I am sure that you will have a broad idea
about health economics at the end of the course.
Thank you very much.
