In this module, you’ll see how techniques in innovation that originally developed outside of health care can be deployed successfully in health care systems and organizations. Using your understanding of optimizing health care operations, you’ll be able to apply innovative techniques to a more traditional ecosystem of health care. You’ll learn how innovative researchers and clinicians changed some of the more grounded approaches to health care. Through analyzing the scientific method, you’ll be able to craft a hypothesis statement of your innovative idea and identify key assumptions in your statement to test first. By the end of this module, you’ll be able to successfully assess the value and plausibility of the hypothesis of your innovation, and effectively utilize successful instances of innovation to your health care practice.

In this module, you’ll examine the practice of evaluation and how it is applied to health policy and programs. You’ll gain a better understanding of the need for evaluations in an ever-changing health care environment, and the importance of control groups to combat selection bias that may skew the findings of an evaluation. You’ll explore different methods to conducting an evaluation, the types of questions an evaluation aims to answer, and the difference between effectiveness and efficacy. By the end of this module, you’ll understand the theoretical framework behind an evaluation and be able to employ an evaluation to better analyze the effectiveness of your health care organization.

This module was designed to highlight the importance of behavioral economics in health care practice and how to utilize behavioral economic theory to optimize the operations of your health care organization. You’ll explore Expected Utility Theory and the different types of Prospect theory such as Reference Dependence, Diminished Sensitivity, and Loss Aversion in the context of health care. By studying real-life examples of Default Bias and Increased Cost Sharing case studies, you’ll establish a framework for health care interventions that will be effective and successful after implementation. By the end of this module, you’ll be better able to determine the theoretical basis for certain health care practices such as nudge units and whether such practices would benefit your organization.