ECON 321 is a cross listed course—a course listed under two different disciplines—with HADM 321. ECON 321 may not be taken for credit by students who have obtained credit for HADM 321.
The primary purpose of ECON 321 is to introduce you to the field of health care economics. Like other economics courses, Health Care Economics is primarily concerned with how scarce resources are allocated. Much of the material presented in this course is similar to that found in an introductory economics course, but the emphasis here is on how concepts such as supply and demand, cost, and utility are applied to the health care sector. In this course students examine how the economic behaviours of health care consumers and suppliers, particularly in Canada, affect the manner in which resources are allocated.
Outline
ECON 321 comprises the following nine units:
Unit 1: Introduction to Health Care Economics
Unit 2: Outputs and Outcomes—The Products of the Health Care System
Unit 3: Economic Dimensions of the Canadian Health Care System
Unit 4: The Demand for Health Care
Unit 5: Cost
Unit 6: Supply of Health Care Services
Unit 7: Demand and Supply
Unit 8: Specific Market Models used in Health Care
Unit 9: The Labour Market
Objectives
Each unit specifies learning objectives that students are encouraged to achieve in order to successfully complete the course. The course, as a whole, has been designed to provide you with the knowledge and skills that you will need to achieve the following:
describe and discuss the concepts of health status and health care utilization, and the relationship between the two.
describe the organization of the health care system in Canada, in terms of specific economic dimensions.
use economic analysis to predict patterns of health care utilization.
Evaluation
To receive credit for ECON 321, you must achieve a course composite grade of at least D (50 percent) and a grade of at least 50 percent on the Final Examination. The weighting of the composite grade is as follows:
Activity
Weight
Assignment 1
25%
Assignment 2
25%
Final Exam
50%
Total
100%
The final examination for this course must be taken online with an AU-approved exam invigilator at an approved invigilation centre. It is your responsibility to ensure your chosen invigilation centre can accommodate online exams. For a list of invigilators who can accommodate online exams, visit the Exam Invigilation Network.
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.
Materials
Hicks, Lanis, L. (2014). Economics of health and medical care (6th ed). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. (eText)
Most of the course materials for ECON 321 are available online through the myAU portal.
Challenge for credit
Overview
The challenge for credit process allows you to demonstrate that you have acquired a command of the general subject matter, knowledge, intellectual and/or other skills that would normally be found in a university-level course.
Full information about challenge for credit can be found in the Undergraduate Calendar.
Evaluation
To receive credit for the ECON 321 challenge registration, you must achieve a grade of at least C- (60 percent) on the examination.
Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized study counterparts.