In this module you will learn about the provider market in the health economy. The provider market mainly consists of the physician and hospital sectors. Combined they are largest source of expenditure in the health economy. The take-away messages from this module are the provider market has demonstrated significant monopoly and the ability to set prices as well as price discriminate. The market is also one of the most technology advanced, regulated and human capital intensive markets on the planet – all of which contribute to significant barriers to entry that reinforce market power. The skills gained from this module are an understanding of the physician and hospital’s voice of customer for a market research plan. In addition, the learner will gain an understanding of the range of sites of care as well provider reimbursement mechanism that are so critical for revenue generation within the hospital setting.

In this module you will learn about the health insurance market. Since the mid-20th century government and private health insurance has been the primary funding vehicle of health care in the industrialized world. The long story of US and other nations health reform will be examined as well. The take-away messages from this module are the health insurance market is a unique form of insurance. Furthermore, its design has been greatly impacted by government intervention over a 100-year arc.The skills gained from this module are an understanding risk and insurance as well as the technology platforms used by the insurance industry to measure cost and quality. Key knowledge for use in the capstone is an understanding health insurance reimbursement and the issues faced by insurers when they consider funding a new medical technology for patient use.

In this module you will learn about the medical technology market. This will provide an excellent overview for the in depth look at this in Course 3 of this specialization. The focus is on the medical device and pharmaceutical market. The take-away messages from this module are medical technology prices are costly because high regulatory and development burden to get to market. In addition, the pathways to payment for medical devices are pharmaceuticals are distinct but share more in common than are dissimilar. The skills gained from this module are an understanding of the regulatory burden of securing intellectual property rights as well as getting the technology clear for use from a safety and effectiveness perspective. Learners will under the key ingredient of technology dossier required for sales and marketing of a product on a global scale.

In this module you will learn about the global market trends. You will also learn the key components of medical technology valuation. The take-away messages from this module are that health economy continues to expand and there are many behavior challenges that are problems as well as opportunities. The module concludes showing a promising technology that is novel, needed, cost-effective and will deliver return – rare qualities when all are checked-off. The skills gained from this module are targeting global health market trends ripe for opportunity as well as knowledge of the checklist of key areas to be covered for the capstone project’s assessment of a promising new innovation.