Health Care Management 0001

Health Care Management 0001 (Introduction to Health Economics) is one of the Wharton online for-credit courses offered within the Pre-baccalaureate Program.

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Overview

Course Description

HCMG 0001: Introduction to Health Economics

In Introduction to Health Economics, you will explore the application of economic principles to the health care sector. The course emphasizes the importance of scarcity and incentives in guiding the decisions and interactions of key players, including care providers, payers, patients, and producers. Course content highlights the critical economic issues in producing, delivering, and financing health care.

Through video lectures, synchronous class meetings, and discussions with your peers, you will learn to analyze determinants of demand for medical care, the unique role of physicians in resource allocation, the role of health insurance, and competition in medical care markets. The course focuses on the U.S. health care context, but the economic principles applied are relevant to a range of systems.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

  • Describe the role of economics as it applies to health care markets, organizations, and individuals.
  • Identify key challenges, both financially and organizationally, that health care delivery is currently facing.
  • Analyze interactions between the players in a health care market, using economic frameworks and
    models.

About the Wharton Pre-baccalaureate Program

The Wharton Pre-baccalaureate Program is an academically-intensive opportunity for exceptional high school juniors and seniors to enroll in Wharton online courses. Participants will learn from Wharton instructors, earn a Wharton transcript, and accrue college credit for each course completed. With six sessions to choose from and built-in academic support, students are encouraged to explore the depth and breadth of Wharton’s business education curriculum with maximum flexibility and the guidance and resources to succeed.

Details

Course Details

This course is delivered via video lectures, synchronous class sessions, and online discussions. To be successful, you must actively engage with ideas presented in the course, and with those posed by your classmates.  

Assessment is based upon active course participation, weekly discussion posts and responses, periodic quizzes, and a final assignment. 

Course Content

Course Topics: 

  • Economic modeling 
  • Health equity 
  • Insurance 
  • Role of Physicians 
  • Role of Hospitals 

Video Content and Readings: 

Video content includes lectures recorded by Wharton Professor Guy David. Each week’s lectures will guide course participants through the application of economic principles to a core topic like health insurance or care providers. We would encourage you to take careful notes and review transcripts. 

Course readings will be limited, because the scholarship that underlies the lecture content tends to be highly technical and often relies on economics and mathematics knowledge not required for the course. Some weeks will have readings and supplemental resources, Modules page on Canvas. If you have a background in economics or want to learn more about what kinds of material you might interact with in future economic coursework, additional readings are available. 

Synchronous Classes: 

Synchronous classes offer the opportunity to explore questions about the course and materials beyond the lectures through live interactions—via videoconference—with course faculty and your classmates. Live class sessions will meet once weekly. 

Course Materials Fee

$76

See full tuition details here.

Requirements

Attendance: 

Course attendance and participation are expected on a regular basis.  

Technical Requirements:

In order to fully participate in this course, you will need a computer that meets minimum system requirements for both Canvas LMS and Zoom Videoconferencing. Refer to the following links:

All programming originates from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (Eastern Daylight Time).

Instructional Team

Instructor: Harriet Jeon

Harriet Jeon is a doctoral candidate at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. She received a B.S. in Economics with a minor in Mathematics also from Wharton. Her research focuses on using data-driven approaches to understand the consequences of operational innovations and managerial decisions on the productivity and quality of health care. Prior to Wharton, she was a pre-doctoral fellow at the Tobin Center for Economic Policy at Yale University, where she worked on research related to out-of-network billing and technology adoption by hospitals. She was also previously a senior analyst at Analysis Group, where she supported economic experts on behalf of the governmental organizations, such as the US Department of Justice, and private corporations, such as Towers Watson & Co, on matters related to the health care industry. 

Location

Online

For more information, please contact wgyp-prebacc@wharton.upenn.edu or call +1.516.414.5555.
Please note that participation in Wharton Global Youth Programs does not guarantee admission to Penn.

Program Information:

View Pre-baccalaureate Courses by Session

“My favorite part of the Pre-baccalaureate program is that I learned not only from my professor but also from my classmates. Since Health Economics was more discussion-based rather than lecture-based during synchronous class meetings, I made sure to speak when I had something to add but also listen to the unique opinions of my classmates related to the inner workings of the United States Healthcare System and how the different players operate and interact in a complex market.” - Ben R., Connecticut, USA

INCLUDED IN ALL SUMMER ONLINE HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAMS

Wharton Youth Network (WYN)

The Wharton Youth Network (WYN) is an active online community open to all Wharton Global Youth summer students as a way to connect to one another — and Wharton business learning — before, during, and after their programs. Featuring both live and independent programming, the Wharton Youth Network connects ambitious business students worldwide during 10 full weeks of Wharton-powered learning, collaboration, and discovery.

*The Wharton Youth Network is included in all online summer programs.

*In-person students have the chance to join the Wharton Youth Network for $199.

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