HAP 574 Preview

HAP 574 Health Economics
Welcome Page
Spring 2006

The purpose of page is

to introduce you to the course and the topics we will cover.
to give you an idea of my expectations.
to let you prepare for the course.

This course is still in flux, but the information here describes my plans at present.

Preparation
Text
Tentative Syllabus
Policies
Exams
Term Paper
Participation

Preparation
To do well in this on-line class you should have

a copy of the textbook (see Text below), but you expected that.
high-speed Internet access. I don't recommend taking this course with a dial-up modem. There will be some videos that will take hours to download over dial-up modem.
MS Media Player v. 9.0 or newer. Media Player comes with Windows. Most of you will have the latest version, but if not you can upgrade your Media Player at the Microsoft Website www.microsoft.com. I use Netscape for my browser. MS Internet Explorer has some quirks just because Microsoft wants to be incompatible with standard HTML.
a UNCP Internet account. This is not the same as the account you use to sign up for classes--that's BraveWeb. The Internet account username and password are used for logging on to the Internet from UNCP computers, using UNCP e-mail, and accessing Blackboard at UNCP. We will be using Blackboard as soon as the UCIS gets it ready for us this term. You MUST at least once go to webmail.uncp.edu and use your UNCP Internet username and password to get into the mail system and send a message. If you never had a UNCP Internet account (and if you are a registered UNCP student) go to http://www.uncp.edu/ucis/accounts/index.htm
If you once had a UNCP Internet account, but you don't remember the name or password or it has become inactive, contact the UCIS at (910) 521-6592. You might have to come to campus to show them your ID.
a proctor for the Midterm and the Final. If you are within 50 miles of Pembroke, I expect that you will use me as your proctor. Community colleges, universities, and libraries often have people who serve as proctors. (See Exams below.)
a recognizeable digital photo of yourself. I ask students to post photos of themselves as a way to get to know each other a bit better. I want to encourage interaction among students.
time. Internet courses put a greater burden on the student (they also put a greater burden on the instructor). You have a greater responsibility for learning the material on your own.

Text

Feldstein, Paul J.
Health Care Economics, 6th edition (2005)
Thomson-Delmar Learning

Tentative Syllabus

	Week	Chap	Topics	Supplements
1	Jan. 9 - 13	1 20	Introduction Economics of Health Care	Scarcity video
2	Jan. 16 - 20	2 3	Production of Health Care Overview of the Health Care Sector
3	Jan. 23 - 27	5	The Demand for Health Care
4	Jan. 30 - Feb. 3	6	The Demand for Health Insurance
5	Feb. 6 - 10	7	The Supply of Medical Care
6	Feb. 13 - 17	8	Competitive Forces in the Market for Health Care
7	Feb. 20 - 24	9	The Market for Health Insurance
	Feb. 27 - Mar. 3		MIDTERM (Proctored)
	Mar. 6 - 10		Spring Break--No class
8	Mar. 13 - 17	10	The Market for Physicians' Services
9	Mar. 20 - 24	11	The Market for Hospitals' Services
10	Mar. 27 - 31	12	The Pharmaceutical Industry
11	Apr. 3 - 7	13	Health Manpower Issues
12	Apr. 10 - 14	14 15	The Supply of Physician Labor Physician Education
13	Apr. 17 - 21	16	The Supply of Nurses' Labor
14	Apr. 24 - 28	17 18	The Role of the Government in Health Care Markets Health Policy and the Legislative Marketplace
	May 3, 2005		FINAL EXAM (Proctored)

One of the key concerns will be how well the health-care system meets a variety of goals.

Exams
There will be two exams in this course: the Midterm Exam and the Final Exam. My exams usually include some multiple choice questions and a few essay or computational questions. A few of my multiple choice questions are simple vocabulary questions. Most of them, however, will make you think. For example, they may ask you to identify examples of concepts, or to tell what will happen to variable Y if variable X changes.

Proctors: These two exams will be proctored. If you live or work within 50 miles of Pembroke, I will expect you to come to the main campus in Pembroke to take the exam with me as the proctor. I will offer each exam twice: once in the daytime and once in the evening. If you live and work more than 50 miles from Pembroke, you will be expected to find your own proctor but I need to approve the proctor you choose. Your proctor must not be your relative, your employee, someone whom you pay for other services, nor your supervisor. Often you will be able to find a proctor at a local community college, university, or library. The proctor should be able to receive the exam by electronic means and be willing to FAX the answer sheet directly to me at the UNCP School of Business.

Participation
Participation would be taken for granted in a classroom setting. I think participation is important in on-line classes for several reasons. First, it requires active learning. That is, it forces students to think about what they are studying, rather than simply reading it and trying to memorize it. Second, when students know that other students will hear what they say, they tend to devote more thought to what they say. Third, participation helps students to get to know each other. This helps them to feel comfortable asking each other for help and offering help. Explaining something to someone else can improve the explainer's understanding as well as the listener's. Fourth, I think students are more likely to stick with the course, and to remain current on their homework, if they interact with their fellow students. So, I want to make this as much like a classroom as possible.

I expect you to contribute in three different ways: (1) a personal page, (2) directed questions, and (3) responses.

(I may still tinker with the schedule described below.)

PERSONAL HOMEPAGE: Prepare and post a personal homepage on Blackboard. This is to introduce yourself to your fellow students. Your page should include a description of yourself and what you do. It should also include a recognizable picture of yourself. If you have trouble getting a digital picture of yourself, I may be able to help you if you can come to my office. To post your personal homepage, click on the "Tools" button, then click on "Homepage". Your personal homepage will be worth up to 10 points.

DIRECTED QUESTIONS: Each week I will direct a question to each person in the group (somewhat like calling on someone in class, but you get more time to think about your answer on line). Your answer to your question will be worth up to 3 points. Your answer does not have to be perfect, but it must show that you have thought about the question and worked on it. If you do little more than restate the question, you will get no points. Answers should be posted within 72 hours of my directing a question.

RESPONSES: I also want to see each student respond at least twice each week to other students' answers. Responses should be respectful and constructive and they should use language that is appropriate in higher education. There should be none of the age-old four-letter words that some people pepper their speech with. In your responses, you might offer a different example or solution. You might see something that needs to be corrected and offer a correction. You might ask a question related to the person's answer. Each response will be worth up to one point, with a maximum of two points for responses per week. A useful response will earn one point. A response that basically says, "I agree with her." or "How did you get that?" will earn no point. You may contribute more than two responses during a week (and I encourage you to do so), but I will only give up to two points for responses each week. Responses should be posted 11:59 pm of the Friday of the week after I direct a question to someone. For example, I may post a directed question on Monday the 18th, an answer should be posted by the same time on Thursday the 21st, and responses would be accepted until the end of Friday the 29th.

CLASS DISCUSSION BOARDS: In addition to the group discussion boards, I will make the class discussion board available for general discussion related to the chapter. I will not count items posted here toward your participation score. This will be a forum for discussion of topics related to the chapters, seeking help with some of the concepts or methods, and maybe some discussion of related news items. Students will be able to initiate discussion threads here, but I reserve the right to remove inappropriate threads or comments.

Nothing posted on any of the discussion boards should be considered private. For that matter, there is presumption of privacy on e-mails either.