Introduction to Health Economics & Outcomes Research

Course Description

This course introduces the fundamentals of Health Economics and Outcomes Research (HEOR). We begin with an overview of the issues addressed by HEOR – including the measurement of health benefits in terms that can be compared across disease domains, and the inclusion of cost impacts across time and over multiple societal sectors that extend beyond health care itself. The first part of the course examines key economic concepts and their relation to health care, including the demand for health care, the structure and consequences of health insurance, and markets for pharmaceutical products. The second part of the course focuses on understanding health economic analysis based on recommendations issued by the Second Panel on Cost Effectiveness in Medicine and Health for the US. The lectures include measuring preferences for health outcomes, estimating costs, simulation modeling, and ethical issues in cost-effectiveness analysis. Finally, through a series of case studies, the course introduces students to important sources of data for the HEOR field.

Students are typically professionals in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, clinicians and health care professionals, or biomedical or clinical researchers. 

Basic Enrollment Requirements: Unofficial Transcript - Bachelor's. You will be contacted after registration for required evidence of immunization; please contact lucia.fenney@tufts.edu with any questions regarding immunizations.

Pre-requisite: Students must be physicians and other professional health care practitioners.

Instructor Approval: Required; Please email the instructor of this course to request permission to enroll. We typically recommend including a resume, your educational history, and 2-3 sentences as to why you are interested in taking the course. You may register for this course before receiving approval, but your enrollment will not be confirmed until approval is received. Please contact us at courses@tufts.edu if you have not heard back from your instructor.

Refund Policy: The refund policy for Courses at Tufts offerings is dependent on the course length. Please refer to the section details to confirm any exceptions to the standard refund policy. The refund policies are viewable here: https://universitycollege.tufts.edu/policies#Refunds 

Remission Eligible: Yes; first day of term; all university policies apply.