2017 Spring Courses

Courses offered by Stanford Health Policy faculty


HEALTH RESEARCH AND POLICY


Health Policy PhD Core Seminar III--First Year (HRP 201C, MED 215C)
Douglas Owens

Third in a three-quarter seminar series is the core tutorial for first-year Health Policy and Health Services Research graduate students. Major themes in fields of study including health insurance, healthcare financing and delivery, health systems and reform and disparities in the US and globally, health and economic development, health law and policy, resource allocation, efficiency and equity, healthcare quality, measurement and the efficacy and effectiveness of interventions. Blocks of session led by Stanford expert faculty in particular fields of study.

Outcomes Analysis (HRP 252, BIOMEDIN 251, MED 252)
Eran Bendavid, Jay Bhattacharya

Methods of conducting empirical studies which use large existing medical, survey, and other databases to ask both clinical and policy questions. Econometric and statistical models used to conduct medical outcomes research. How research is conducted on medical and health economics questions when a randomized trial is impossible. Problem sets emphasize hands-on data analysis and application of methods, including re-analyses of well-known studies. Prerequisites: one or more courses in probability, and statistics or biostatistics.

Economics of Health and Medical Care (HRP 256, BIOMEDIN 156, BIOMEDIN 256, ECON 126)
Jay Bhattacharya

Institutional, theoretical, and empirical analysis of the problems of health and medical care. Topics: demand for medical care and medical insurance; institutions in the health sector; economics of information applied to the market for health insurance and for health care; measurement and valuation of health; competition in health care delivery. Graduate students with research interests should take ECON 249. Prerequisites: ECON 50 and either ECON 102A or STATS 116 or the equivalent. Recommended: ECON 51.


LAW
 

Health Law: Quality and Safety of Care (LAW 3002, MED 209)
David Studdert

(Formerly Law 727) Concerns about the quality of health care, along with concerns about its cost and accessibility, are the focal points of American health policy. This course will consider how legislators, courts, and professional groups attempt to safeguard the quality and safety of the health care patients receive. The course approaches "regulation" in a broad sense. We will cover regimes for determining who may deliver health care services (e.g. licensing and accreditation agencies), legal and ethical obligations providers owe to patients (e.g. confidentiality, informed consent), individual and institutional liability for substandard care, and various proposals for reforming the medical malpractice system. We will also discuss the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka, "Obamacare"), which is launching many new initiatives aimed at assuring or improving health care quality. Special Instructions: Any student may write a paper in lieu of the final exam with consent of instructor. After the term begins, students accepted into the course can transfer from section (01) into section (02), which meets the R requirement, with consent of the instructor. Elements used in grading: Class Participation, Exam or Final Paper. Cross-listed with School of Medicine.


HUMAN BIOLOGY
 

Environmental and Health Policy Analysis (HUMBIO 4B)
Laurence Baker, Joe Nation

Connections among the life sciences, social sciences, public health, and public policy. The economic, social, and institutional factors that underlie environmental degradation, the incidence of disease, and inequalities in health status and access to health care. Public policies to address these problems. Topics include pollution regulation, climate change policy, biodiversity protection, health care reform, health disparities, and women's health policy. HUMBIO 4B satisfies the Writing in the Major (WIM) requirement for students in Human Biology. HUMBIO 4A and 4B are designed to be taken concurrently and exams for both sides may include material from joint module lectures.Concurrent enrollment is strongly encouraged and is necessary for majors in order to meet declaration deadlines.

Economics of Infectious Disease and Global Health (HUMBIO 124E, MED 236)
Marcella Alsan

Introduction to global health topics such as childhood health, hygiene, drug resistance, and pharmaceutical industries from an economic development perspective. Introduces economic concepts including decision-making over time, externalities, and incentives as they relate to health. Prerequisite: Human Biology Core or equivalent or consent of the instructor.
 

Course Archive