In this module you will learn about the economic history of one of the largest segments of the world’s economy. You will become acquainted with world trends in health and the stakeholders that comprise the healthcare marketplace ranging from physicians to hospitals to insurers and pharmaceutical firms. The take-away messages from this module are that there are many competing voices in the health economy. Furthermore, many of these voices have growing and evolving economic interests that spill over into all aspects of society. The skills gained from this module to enable a successful capstone is an appreciation of the role of government and regulation in the making and destruction of markets. One person’s new law may be a huge hindrance but also a giant opportunity for profit from another party. You will be better prepared to distinguish the difference and succeed.

In this module you will learn about the provider market in the health economy. The provider market mainly consists of the physician and hospital sectors. Combined they are largest source of expenditure in the health economy. The take-away messages from this module are the provider market has demonstrated significant monopoly and the ability to set prices as well as price discriminate. The market is also one of the most technology advanced, regulated and human capital intensive markets on the planet – all of which contribute to significant barriers to entry that reinforce market power. The skills gained from this module are an understanding of the physician and hospital’s voice of customer for a market research plan. In addition, the learner will gain an understanding of the range of sites of care as well provider reimbursement mechanism that are so critical for revenue generation within the hospital setting.

In this module you will learn about the health insurance market. Since the mid-20th century government and private health insurance has been the primary funding vehicle of health care in the industrialized world. The long story of US and other nations health reform will be examined as well. The take-away messages from this module are the health insurance market is a unique form of insurance. Furthermore, its design has been greatly impacted by government intervention over a 100-year arc.The skills gained from this module are an understanding risk and insurance as well as the technology platforms used by the insurance industry to measure cost and quality. Key knowledge for use in the capstone is an understanding health insurance reimbursement and the issues faced by insurers when they consider funding a new medical technology for patient use.

In this module you will learn about the medical technology market. This will provide an excellent overview for the in depth look at this in Course 3 of this specialization. The focus is on the medical device and pharmaceutical market. The take-away messages from this module are medical technology prices are costly because high regulatory and development burden to get to market. In addition, the pathways to payment for medical devices are pharmaceuticals are distinct but share more in common than are dissimilar. The skills gained from this module are an understanding of the regulatory burden of securing intellectual property rights as well as getting the technology clear for use from a safety and effectiveness perspective. Learners will under the key ingredient of technology dossier required for sales and marketing of a product on a global scale.