RES-ECON 386: Health Economics

Example syllabus only – exact content subject to change. Please see your instructor’s syllabus for the current term for your specific course’s guidelines

Instructor: Lucy Xiaolu Wang, Ph.D. (@email)
Office Hours: schedule individual/group meetings on Calendly (1.5+ hours/week, in-person/Zoom)
Prof’s Office: Stockbridge 208B 

TA: Bijesh Gyawali (@email)
TA OHs: Fridays 4:00-5:00PM, Flint 210 & Zoom

Course time: Mon & Wed, 2:30-3:45 PM
Class location: Holdsworth Hall room 305;
Credits: 3  Prerequisites: ECON 203/RES-ECON 202/case-specific exemption
Course website: Canvas 

This course is part of the Public Interest Technology Initiative (PIT@UMass) core technology courses.

Course Description

This course introduces students to the theory and methods of health economics and demonstrates how these methods can be applied to understand phenomena and analyze issues in health policy, business, and management. We will explore how scholars and practitioners address empirical questions in health economics and the methods and data that are available. Topics include: COVID-19 and the diffusion and innovation in health care; the demand for health care; health insurance; geographic variation in medical spending; physician labor market; hospital and health systems; pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical devices; drug development, pricing, and FDA regulation; technology assessment; special topics (poll).

Learning Outcomes

• Understand main theory and methods in major health economics topics
• Identify suitable data, and apply proper theory and methods to analyze timely questions
• Examine current events using class tools throughout the semester and share with the class
• Practice critical thinking, public speaking, and analytical writing skills in course topics
• Develop an individual learning portfolio to showcase individual and group projects

Course Materials & Textbook

The main materials are lecture slides (on Canvas). The textbook below is used for assigned reading for some topics. Extra materials will be posted on Canvas. Do not share course materials outside the class. Bhattacharya, Jay, Timothy Hyde, and Peter Tu. Health Economics. Macmillan International Higher

Education, 2013. [BHT] Available via Amazon and free-access in our library (e-book & hard copies).

Required Assignments & Grading

Grading scale: Final grades will be based on a curve, but the strictest possible grade thresholds will be: A:90%, B:80%, C:70%, and D:60%. +/- grades may be given. Letter grades may be adjusted (curved) at the end of the term. You will earn your grade for the course based on the following assignments:

• Class participation (15%):
  • Attendance and active participation in classroom discussion & peer Ignite talks (10%)
  • Questions for guest speakers (5%): submit 3 questions by the day before (no extension)
     
• Assignments (35%): assignment 2-4 can be done individually or in groups (up to three people)
  • 30% for 4 assignments; 5% for peer evaluation; no extension; late submission: -20%/day
  • Assignment 1 (due 9/13): essay assignment based on the list of movies/books/podcasts
    • Assignment 1 peer evaluations (due 9/20): based on completion (show work)
  • Assignment 2 (due 10/4): this assignment will be posted on 9/13
  • Assignment 3 (due 10/25): this assignment will be posted on 10/4
  • Assignment 4 (due 11/15): this assignment will be posted on 10/25
  • Assignments will be graded based on accuracy and effort (show work!)
     
• 5 quizzes (30%): 20 minutes at the start/end of the class; the lowest grade will be dropped.
  • Quiz 1 (9/9), quiz 2 (9/25), quiz 3 (10/16), quiz 4 (10/30), quiz 5 (11/18)
  • Quizzes will be graded based on accuracy and effort (show work!); non-cumulative
     
• In-class presentations (20%): detailed rubrics on Canvas
  • Individual ignite talks (10%): 5-min, 20 automated slides, presentation & reflection
    • Violating the format of Ignite talks (i.e., 5-min, 20 automated slides): -10%
  • One group presentation (10%): on 12/9 (last class), special topics based on class poll
  • For both: Slides upload due 11:59pm the day before presentation; late submission -10%
     
• Optional project (9%): max 9 bonus points to offer (I’ll take 100 out of 109 total for the course)
  • You can work on the project alone or in a two-person team (equal split points/person)
  • Option 1 (due 12/13): health econ news essays & podcast (8 news, 250 words each; one final reflection on your news observation journey this semester; record all in a podcast)
  • Option 2 (due 12/15): 15-min video presentation and a 5–10-page proposal on a health care data project (practice Zoom presentation skills and corresponding report writeup)

Outline of Course

Note: Some topics may be omitted for time. Students are encouraged to refer to the academic calendar to be aware of critical deadlines throughout the semester. We will poll for special topic coverage.

Extra credit: send me your favorite song related to health care (in any adjacent ways) by 9/15 and use the subject line “ResEc386: health song” (include the URL to YouTube/Spotify), you’ll get an extra credit.

Course Policies

Accommodation Statement

The University of Massachusetts Amherst is committed to providing an equal educational opportunity for all students. If you have a documented physical, psychological, or learning disability on file with Disability Services (DS), you may be eligible for reasonable academic accommodations to help you succeed in this course. If you have a documented disability that requires an accommodation, please notify me within the first two weeks of the semester so that we may make appropriate arrangements.

Community Respect

All students are expected to act professionally, showing utmost respect in all communication with each other, instructors, and university staff. Also, remember any honest question is a good question, whether it is yours or someone else’s. If you have a question, please raise it. It is likely that someone else has the same question.

Email

Direct email should be used only after class resources have been referenced or for personal concerns. Professor Wang generally respond to student emails within 2 business days. The best way to ask questions is to talk with Prof. Wang before/after class and in OHs and show your thinking process. Emailing questions is NOT an effective way to understand the materials and improve your learning.

Academic Honesty

Academic dishonesty is prohibited in all programs of the University. Academic dishonesty includes but is not limited to: cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, and facilitating dishonesty. Appropriate sanctions may be imposed on any student who has committed an act of academic dishonesty. Instructors should take reasonable steps to address academic misconduct. Any person who has reason to believe that a student has committed academic dishonesty should bring such information to the attention of the appropriate course instructor as soon as possible. Instances of academic dishonesty not related to a specific course should be brought to the attention of the appropriate department Head or Chair. Since students are expected to be familiar with this policy and the commonly accepted standards of academic integrity, ignorance of such standards is not normally sufficient evidence of lack of intent (http://www.umass.edu/dean_students/codeofconduct/acadhonesty/).

AI is prohibited

This course assumes that all work submitted by students will be generated by the students themselves, working individually or in groups. Students should not have another person/entity do the writing of any substantive portion of an assignment for them, which includes hiring a person or a company to write assignments and using artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT.

Diversity and inclusion

The University of Massachusetts Amherst is committed to policies that promote inclusiveness, social justice, and respect for all, regardless of race, color, religion, creed, gender, sexual orientation, age, national or ethnic origin, physical or mental disability, political belief or affiliation, marital status, veteran status, immigration status, gender identity and expression, genetic information, or any other characteristic or status protected by state or federal laws.

Finally, I hope you enjoy the class. We will be learning together!

Learning Objectives

This course contributes to the following student learning objectives for undergraduate students in the Department of Resource Economics: