Pharmacy Management Program - Professional track units

Introduction to Health Economics (ECX9700)

Rationale:

The primary business for pharmacy and the pharmaceutical industry is to provide goods and services to improve health. Together with the unit Pharmaceutical Economics, these two units are of particular value for professional leaders, senior pharmacy managers, policy makers and individuals who wish to pursue a career in the pharmaceutical industry. Furthermore, sound economical knowledge in pharmaceuticals is increasingly important for clinical practitioners to consider when making therapeutic choice, allowing maximisation of health outcome from the limited resources available.

This subject provides a descriptive framework to better understand the Australian Health Care system from an economic perspective. It discusses the reasons for the growth in expenditure in health care including pharmaceuticals in the last thirty years and the responses of government to increase demands in a period of limited resources. This subject will provide participants with the:

• necessary skills to analyse alternative arrangements to finance and deliver health services from an economics perspective
• ability to understand the distinctive characteristics of health care as a commodity and its implication for prices and output in the health care market
• ability to distinguish concepts of efficiency and equity in health care and understand the significance for the organisation of health service.

For unit offering details refer to the Postgraduate Handbook.