STIA 452: INNOVATION SYSTEMS FOR SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND HEALTH
Science and technology are now seen not only to have a profound connection to our health and daily life, but also to the society's economic growth and its corresponding ability to generate societal wellbeing. This course will examine the science, technology and health innovation system, with a particular focus on public policy and the federal government's role in that system. It will review the innovation-based competitive challenges now facing the U.S. economy in both services and manufacturing sectors, comparative efforts in other nations, the varied models for how federal science and technology mission agencies are organized, the growth of public-private partnership models, the appropriate limits on the governmental role and the cluster theory of regional innovation-based development. Emphasis will be placed on examining the organization and role of medical science innovation agencies. The mechanisms through which government obtains the science advice that is increasingly important to public policy will be discussed. The class will close with a review of proposals for improving the government-related elements of the innovation system. Professor Bonvillian. (also a course in the Environmental & Regulatory Policy track).

 

PPOL 525: THE POLICY AND POLITICS OF ENTITLEMENTS
This course examines the policy and political issues surrounding "entitlement" programs. The concept behind the course is that different entitlement programs -- like Medicare, Medicaid, welfare and social security - raise a common set of policy and political issues. These issues include income redistribution, intergenerational equity, means-testing vs. universality, compulsory participation vs. individual choice, and individual vs. social responsibility. Professors Feder, Nadel. (Also an Education, Social & Family Policy track course.)

 

PPOL 527: RISK ANALYSISThis course focuses on human health risk assessment and covers the following set of interrelated steps used in assessing environmental and human health risk: hazard identification, dose-response, exposure assessment and risk characterization. The risk assessment process is examined through case examples involving the human health consequences and regulatory approaches to chemical pollutants such as lead, mercury, dioxin and particulate matter; biological pollutants that result in food contamination; and broader issues such as global warming. The course features discussion of the kind and quality of information used to evaluate risk, the impacts of cascading conservatism, and the influence of science policy perspectives on risk assessment results. The course emphasizes issues rising under the environmental laws administered by the Environmental Protection Agency but gives attention also to related issues managed by other federal agencies. Professor Patton. (Also a course in the Environmental & Regulatory Policy track.)

 

PPOL 638: INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH: A DEMOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVE
The efforts of societies to improve health conditions and increase the length of life have comprised a major ongoing social revolution of the past 200 years. Our work this semester is a wide-ranging survey of social, economic, demographic and public health perspectives on that movement. Lectures, readings, and class discussions cover the social history of health in past times, belief systems about the causes of disease and illness, the evolution of major cause of disease over time, the ecology and etiology of major infectious and chronic diseases, measurement issues, social and economic consequences of changes in mortality and health, and programs designed to affect health conditions. Professor Weinstein. (Also a course in the Education, Social and Family Policy, and the International Policy and Development tracks.)

 

PPOL 642: HEALTH POLICY AND POLITICS
This seminar explores the policy and politics of health care by developing and assessing reform proposals as if students were participating in the Executive or Congressional decision process. This examination of reform will draw on experience from the national debate on comprehensive reform (1993-1994) and more recently on incremental changes to health care access and coverage (1996-1998). The objective of the course is to engage students in weighing both the policy and political tradeoffs raised by health reform. Professor Pollitz.

 

PPOL 643: HEALTH CARE ACCESS: DEMAND ISSUES (Formerly HEALTH ECONOMICS I)
This course is a graduate level introduction to a wide variety of problems, both theoretical and applied, in health economics and health services research. The major topics to be covered include models and applications examining the demands for health and medical care; health production and health behaviors; models and applications related to the demands for health insurance; other issues related to health insurance; Medicare; Medicaid; and the uninsured. Professor Schone.

 

PPOL 644: HOSPITALS, HMO'S, AND PHYSICIANS: HEALTH SUPLY (Formerly HEALTH ECONOMICS II)
This course examines the supply side of the healthcare market. The course begins with a discussion on the relevancy and importance of health economics. We then review prevailing theory and recent empirical literature of hospital and physician behavior. We examine the impact of competition and alternative methods of reimbursement on these health care providers. Both theoretical and empirical research are reviewed to assess the implications for health care costs, supply of services, hospital cost-shifting, and physician-induced demand. Finally, we discuss managed care and its impact on the health care system. Professor Mitchell.

 

PPOL 645: ECONOMIC EVALUATION OF MEDICAL CARE: COSTS, OUTCOMES, & POLICY
This seminar focuses on the application of economic and outcomes evaluations to medical care issues. Cost analysis, cost-effective analysis, and other methodologies will be used to evaluate the costs and outcomes associated with medical technologies, including drugs, medical devices, and public health interventions. Policy aspects of economic evaluations of medical care will also be covered. Discussions will include: types of health economic analyses; development of decision analysis model; economic evaluation of clinical trials; health utilities; and the role of health economic information in clinical decision-making. Professor Halpern

 

PPOL 646: HEALTH POLICY ANALYSIS
Achieving policy objectives in health care often relies on using incentives to influence the behavior of consumers and providers. This course examines how analysis can assist policy formulation through identification of different options for likely consumer and provider responses, resulting impacts, and the consequences for major stakeholders. Lectures and discussion will review aspects of the Medicare program analyzing policy choices made or being considered with respect to the arrays of potential objectives and policy options and the basis for selection among the options. Student teams representing different stakeholders will develop and present a policy proposal for either a state's program for long-term care for the elderly or a state's use of Medicaid managed care for persons with disabilities. Students will also prepare a policy proposal for a topic of their choice. Professors Scanlon, Horton.

 

PPOL 648: Epidemiology for Public Policy
This course will provide an introduction to the basic quantitative and qualitative methods of epidemiology, and illustrate their use in public health practice and the development of health and environmental policy. Methodological topics will include the dynamics of disease transmission, the measurement of mortality and morbidity, community health assessment, disease surveillance, outbreak investigation, population-based screening programs, epidemiologic study design and analysis, and ethical issues in epidemiology. Methods will be illustrated through a series of in-depth policy examples, including health disparities, HIV/AIDS surveillance, prenatal HIV screening, quality of health care, privacy and confidentiality of health information, smallpox vaccination policy, syndromic surveillance, SARS, and public health preparedness for bioterrorism. Professor Stoto.

 

PPOL 710: DRUG REGULATION & POLICY. This module will provide an overview of 2 areas of current interest in Health Policy:

 

1. Prescription Drugs, Biologics, and Medical Devices; Regulation and Policy

 

 

2. Issues Associated with the use of Cost-Benefit Analysis and Cost-Effectiveness Analysis in Evaluating Regulatory Policy Options

 

 

Professor Mathieu. (also an Environment & Regulatory Policy track course)