Knowledge Of Health Economics Research Articles

Towards integration of health economics into medical education and clinical practice in Saudi Arabia

In an era of expanding health sectors and rising costs, doctors are expected to have a working knowledge of health economics to better use resources and improve outcomes and quality of health care. This article recognizes the dearth of knowledge and application of economic analyses in medical education and clinical practice in Saudi Arabia. In particular, it highlights the desirability of knowledge of health economics in ensuring certain competencies in medical education and the rationale for inviting doctors to apply knowledge of economics in Saudi Arabia. In addition, the article discusses challenges that hinder integrating health economics into clinical practice. Furthermore, the article typifies some of the important economic phenomena that physicians need to discern. Besides, the article provides implications for incorporating economic analysis into medical education and clinical practice in Saudi Arabia. Finally, the article concludes by demonstrating how health economics can enhance doctors’ knowledge and recommends the country to move towards integrating health economics into medical education and clinical practice for best practice.

Assesment of Knowledge of Health Economics Among Medical Professionals: A Study in Jimma University Medical School, Ethiopia

Introduction: Health is a fundamental human right and integral to human-well being. Health and economy of a nation is always interrelated. Health economics is the sub-discipline of economics dealing with the issues of scarcity of resources, opportunity cost, prioritization and choice in health sector. Even though this field of specialization is gaining its importance all over the world, not included in the medical curriculum of many developing countries and knowledge of health economics among health professionals are limited.Objective: To assess the extent of knowledge and awareness on health economics and economic evaluation techniques among medical doctors, Ethiopia.Methods: Qualitative exploratory study. Information collected through in depth-interviews with randomly selected 25 medical doctors from different clinical departments, Jimma University specialized hospital.Results: Out of 25 respondents nobody has any academic exposure on health economics and related concepts at undergraduate/ postgraduate level. Medical professionals who are holding administrative positions also never got the chance of getting trained in this field. 28% of the respondents heard about economic evaluation techniques and 88% of them believe that application of health economic techniques will improve the performance of health care delivery system of Ethiopia. All respondents believed that health economics should be included in medical curriculum of Ethiopia.Conclusion: Medical curriculum should be updated according to the need and health economics should be included. Health professionals and policy makers must familiarize the ways to allocate valuable resources in an effective manner. Medical educators must therefore adapt their curricula to teach future physicians the skills for practicing medicine in an evolving health care environment especially in the context of poor resource settings.

Health economics and the European Heart Rhythm Association

The management of healthcare is becoming extremely complex in developed countries, as a result of increasing age of the population and increasing costs of care, coupled with diminishing resources due to global financial crisis. This situation threatens access to appropriate care, and a more or less explicit rationing of some types of treatment may occur in 'real world' clinical practice. This is particularly true for those treatments or interventions with a relatively high up-front cost, such as cardioverter defibrillators, devices for cardiac resynchronization therapy or ablation procedures for atrial fibrillation. The European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) is strongly convinced that the skills of electrophysiologists and cardiologists responsible for the management of rhythm disorders have to evolve, also embracing the knowledge of health economics, clinical epidemiology, health-care management and outcome research. These disciplines do not belong to what is considered as the conventional cultural background of physicians, but knowledge of comparative cost effectiveness and of other economic approaches nowadays appears fundamental for a dialogue with a series of stakeholders, such as policy makers, politicians, and administrators, involved in budgeting the activity of hospitals and health-care services, as well as in approaching health technology assessment.

Health Economics: What Value to the Theatre Practitioner?

Clinical effectiveness has become embedded into healthcare in the last decade. In juxtaposition with this philosophy lies health economics with its mantra of resources being finite, whilst the need for healthcare remains infinite. An outline of a provocative cost-benefit analysis is provided to increase the knowledge of health economics for those working in the operating department. This paper argues that cost effectiveness must be embedded within clinical effectiveness.

Educating residents about managed care: a partnership between an academic medical center and a managed care organization.

Physicians are taught to think in terms of individual patients rather than in terms of the health of a population, a view typically reinforced by residency training. Managers of managed care organizations estimate that it takes between one and two years of additional post-residency experience to prepare graduates of U.S. residency programs to practice in managed care settings. The authors describe a two-week block rotation in managed care and health system change that is required of all third-year medical residents at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/ Weill Cornell Medical Center. The program was developed through a partnership between the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University, the New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and Empire BlueCross BlueShield. The authors discuss the rationale, curriculum content, teaching methods, and evaluation of the program, which is designed not only to educate residents about managed care but also to enable them to think critically about the changing health care system. The results of the program have exceeded expectations. Residents' knowledge of health economics, managed care concepts, and health system change, as measured by pre- and post-rotation tests, has shown a steep learning curve. Further, the residents have consistently given the rotation the highest ratings, and some residents have changed their career plans as a result of their participation. The program, which continues to expand, has demonstrated the potential of collaboration between traditional adversaries, an academic medical center and a managed care insurance company, and provides a replicable model for similar partnerships.