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309.621.11
Health Care Workforce: Policy Analysis and Economics

Location
East Baltimore
Term
Summer Institute
Department
Health Policy and Management
Credit(s)
3
Academic Year
2012 - 2013
Instruction Method
TBD
Class Time(s)
June 4, 6, 8, 11, 13, 15
M, W, F, 1:00 - 5:00pm
Auditors Allowed
No
Available to Undergraduate
No
Grading Restriction
Letter Grade or Pass/Fail
Course Instructor(s)
Contact Name
Frequency Schedule
One Year Only
Next Offered
Only offered in 2012
Description
Acquaints health professionals with the general principles of labor economics and the analytical tools to examine health workforce policy in an era of health reform. Focuses on the role of consumers/patients, estimating the supply of health care professionals, modeling the demand for patient care, addressing geographic imbalances in access to health care and services, and evaluating the productivity of health care providers. Prompts students to think like decision-makers and propose policy solutions to respond to real-world challenges that limit patient access to physicians and other health providers. Lectures stress the application of concepts, examine workforce issues within all health labor markets, and offer contemporary insights about policy and economic options to ease the shortage of providers and improve the quality of health care.
Learning Objectives
Upon successfully completing this course, students will be able to:
  1. Describe the impact of the Affordable Care Act of 2010 on the workforce for health care.
  2. Use the general principles of labor economics to propose policy options aimed at: relieving shortages in the number and type of health care providers, reducing geographic imbalances in provider distribution, and improving the ratio of primary vs. specialty care providers involved in health care.
  3. Explain how to forecast the supply of health professionals and estimate the relationship between provider supply and patient demand for clinical care.
  4. Explain the utility of pecuniary and nonpecuniary incentives to influence workforce productivity and efficiency.
  5. Analyze the workings of health care labor markets for physicians, nurses, dentists, public health professionals, and non-physician providers.
  6. Explain how market forces shape the supply, demand, geographic distribution, specialty mix, and earnings of each type of health professional.
  7. Explain the impact of mobility, gender, racial and ethnic disparities on labor markets for health care professionals, and specify remedies to ease workforce inequalities that constrain patient access to health care or services.