Leiden University College
2024 - 2025
Block 3
Health Economics and Policy
Level: 100
Credits: 5 ECTS
Class meeting times: Tuesday 11:15-13:00, Thursday 17:15-19:00
Room: 3.06
Course instructor: Kristin Makszin
Contact information: , office number 4.41
Office hours, location: Thursdays, 12:00-14:00 in room 4.16 or Teams
Book appointment at https://kristinmakszin.youcanbook.me/
*The policy evaluation part of this course was co-designed in collaboration with an LUC
Research Clinic in 2024. I thank Isadora Zuffo and Willow Albano for their contributions
to this process.
, INTRODUCTION
In this course, we study health outcomes, health systems, and health policies through the lens of economic
concepts and theories. We explore how economic concepts, such as efficiency, choice and opportunity costs,
competition, incentives, labor supply, market failure, and asymmetric information, help us understand
health systems and the formulation of health policy. We first learn alternative economic theories and their
applications in health systems, then critically evaluate and reflect on the consequences and limitations of
applying these economic concepts in the field of health care and public health. We will learn about alternative
approaches to economic evaluation, such as cost-effectiveness analysis, cost-benefit analysis, and cost-
consequence analysis, through practice evaluating real-world examples during in-class workshops.
We explore how economic concepts have been applied in different dimensions of the health system, defined
by the World Health Organization’s “building blocks”: (1) service delivery, (2) health workforce, (3) health
information systems, (4) access to essential medicines, (5) financing, and (6) leadership/governance. This
enables us to study interdependencies of these components at the health systems level. We will comparatively
analyze health systems and policies across a diverse range of countries, which is driven by the set of countries
selected by participants where one participant will serve as our in-house expert on a specific country.
COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES
Skills
1. Apply economic concepts to real-world policy relevant contexts
2. Generate effective data visualizations for policy communication
3. Conduct economic evaluations of health care programs and policies
Content
4. Understand economic concepts relevant for health outcomes, systems, and policies
5. Connect economic concepts to health system contexts
6. Critique the application of economic concepts in health systems
7. Develop deep case knowledge of one country’s health system
8. Compare health systems and policies across contexts
9. Understand the strengths and limitations of alternative economic evaluation approaches
TEACHING METHODS
The course consists of two seminars per week, which combine interactive exercises and discussions about
economic concepts and their applications to health systems and policy. This course expects students to learn
economic concepts through videos and readings and in class we will focus on applying that learning through
group exercises, debates, and interactive discussions. The sessions assume that students come well-prepared
to class and ready to apply new knowledge and skills. Preparation for class includes detailed reading of
textbook and other readings, taking notes while preparing that you can reference in class, and sometimes
watching videos or listening to podcasts. At the beginning of class, we will a shirt Q&A about the content of
the reading to measure your preparedness and provide space for questions. We will practice comparison of
health systems through interactive exercises where each participant is an in-house expert for one country’s
health system. We will have in-class workshop to practice different approaches to economic evaluation,
which students then apply in a specific evaluation project.
COURSE POLICIES
Attendance and active engagement is vital for learning in this course. In case you miss a class session, you
are responsible for catching up with the material by talking to a fellow participant. You should aim to attend
all sessions when you are able. You can miss two classes without any explanation and you are not required
2024 - 2025
Block 3
Health Economics and Policy
Level: 100
Credits: 5 ECTS
Class meeting times: Tuesday 11:15-13:00, Thursday 17:15-19:00
Room: 3.06
Course instructor: Kristin Makszin
Contact information: , office number 4.41
Office hours, location: Thursdays, 12:00-14:00 in room 4.16 or Teams
Book appointment at https://kristinmakszin.youcanbook.me/
*The policy evaluation part of this course was co-designed in collaboration with an LUC
Research Clinic in 2024. I thank Isadora Zuffo and Willow Albano for their contributions
to this process.
, INTRODUCTION
In this course, we study health outcomes, health systems, and health policies through the lens of economic
concepts and theories. We explore how economic concepts, such as efficiency, choice and opportunity costs,
competition, incentives, labor supply, market failure, and asymmetric information, help us understand
health systems and the formulation of health policy. We first learn alternative economic theories and their
applications in health systems, then critically evaluate and reflect on the consequences and limitations of
applying these economic concepts in the field of health care and public health. We will learn about alternative
approaches to economic evaluation, such as cost-effectiveness analysis, cost-benefit analysis, and cost-
consequence analysis, through practice evaluating real-world examples during in-class workshops.
We explore how economic concepts have been applied in different dimensions of the health system, defined
by the World Health Organization’s “building blocks”: (1) service delivery, (2) health workforce, (3) health
information systems, (4) access to essential medicines, (5) financing, and (6) leadership/governance. This
enables us to study interdependencies of these components at the health systems level. We will comparatively
analyze health systems and policies across a diverse range of countries, which is driven by the set of countries
selected by participants where one participant will serve as our in-house expert on a specific country.
COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES
Skills
1. Apply economic concepts to real-world policy relevant contexts
2. Generate effective data visualizations for policy communication
3. Conduct economic evaluations of health care programs and policies
Content
4. Understand economic concepts relevant for health outcomes, systems, and policies
5. Connect economic concepts to health system contexts
6. Critique the application of economic concepts in health systems
7. Develop deep case knowledge of one country’s health system
8. Compare health systems and policies across contexts
9. Understand the strengths and limitations of alternative economic evaluation approaches
TEACHING METHODS
The course consists of two seminars per week, which combine interactive exercises and discussions about
economic concepts and their applications to health systems and policy. This course expects students to learn
economic concepts through videos and readings and in class we will focus on applying that learning through
group exercises, debates, and interactive discussions. The sessions assume that students come well-prepared
to class and ready to apply new knowledge and skills. Preparation for class includes detailed reading of
textbook and other readings, taking notes while preparing that you can reference in class, and sometimes
watching videos or listening to podcasts. At the beginning of class, we will a shirt Q&A about the content of
the reading to measure your preparedness and provide space for questions. We will practice comparison of
health systems through interactive exercises where each participant is an in-house expert for one country’s
health system. We will have in-class workshop to practice different approaches to economic evaluation,
which students then apply in a specific evaluation project.
COURSE POLICIES
Attendance and active engagement is vital for learning in this course. In case you miss a class session, you
are responsible for catching up with the material by talking to a fellow participant. You should aim to attend
all sessions when you are able. You can miss two classes without any explanation and you are not required
