Health Economics and Innovation in Healthcare Systems

Healthcare organisations worldwide are facing unprecedented pressures: rising costs, demographic shifts, chronic disease burdens, and rapidly evolving technologies. To navigate these challenges, professionals must master both the economic principles that govern resource allocation and the innovation strategies that drive transformative change.

This course offers a deep interdisciplinary dive into health economics, innovation management, and organisational change within healthcare systems. Through evidence-based frameworks, case studies, and applied exercises, participants will learn how to assess healthcare interventions economically, manage large-scale transformation projects, and foster an innovation-ready culture within healthcare organisations.

The course uniquely combines theoretical foundations with practical applications to prepare participants for leading sustainable, efficient, and patient-centred healthcare reforms.

Section 1: Foundations of Health Economics in Healthcare

• The fundamentals of economic theory applied to health systems.
• The nature of healthcare as a non-traditional market (market failures, government intervention, and public goods).
• Demand and supply of healthcare services; elasticity of healthcare demand.
• The role of uncertainty, information asymmetry, and moral hazard in health insurance systems.
• Pricing mechanisms and reimbursement models (fee-for-service, capitation, bundled payments, value-based care).
• Macroeconomic implications of health sector spending: GDP relationships and global health financing trends.

Section 2: Cost-Effectiveness, Prioritisation & Resource Allocation

• Decision-making under budget constraints: economic tools for healthcare priority setting.
• Economic evaluation methods:

1. Cost-minimisation analysis (CMA).
2. Cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA).
3. Cost-utility analysis (CUA).
4. Cost-benefit analysis (CBA).

• Measurement and interpretation of QALYs (Quality Adjusted Life Years) and DALYs (Disability Adjusted Life Years).
• Budget impact analysis for policy implementation.
• Case studies on economic trade-offs: rare diseases, high-cost cancer therapies, public health interventions (e.g. vaccination campaigns vs. hospital investments).
• Political, social, and ethical dimensions of healthcare rationing.

Section 3: Innovation Drivers and Trends in Healthcare

• Defining innovation in healthcare: clinical, organisational, business model, and process innovations.
• Emerging trends:

1. Artificial Intelligence (AI) in diagnosis, treatment optimisation, and predictive analytics
2. Telemedicine and remote care models
3. Wearables, biosensors, and personalised medicine
4. Blockchain for health data security
5. Robotics and automation in surgery and elder care

• The role of government policy in fostering innovation: subsidies, incentives, regulatory frameworks.
• Challenges of scaling innovations: pilot project failures, interoperability barriers, funding gaps.
• Industry-academic partnerships and innovation ecosystems.
• Comparative innovation models: Silicon Valley vs. Nordic health systems vs. NHS Innovation Hubs.

Section 4: Managing Organisational Change in Healthcare

• The anatomy of complex healthcare systems as dynamic, adaptive organisations.
• Organisational change theories:

1. Lewin’s Three-Step Model (Unfreeze – Change – Refreeze)
2. Kotter’s 8-Step Change Model
3. McKinsey’s 7S Framework
4. ADKAR Model (Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, Reinforcement)

• Stakeholder mapping and engagement strategies: physicians, nurses, administrative staff, patients, insurers, regulators.
• Communication strategies during change implementation.
• Leading cultural transformation: psychological safety, resilience, continuous learning culture.
• Managing burnout, resistance, and emotional dynamics during healthcare change.
• Digital transformation change readiness: digital maturity models for healthcare.

Section 5: Integrating Economics, Innovation, and Change for Sustainable Healthcare

• Strategic alignment of cost-efficiency with innovation adoption.
• Building value-based healthcare delivery models:

1. Outcomes-based contracting
2. Shared savings programs
3. Pay-for-performance systems

• Calculating Return on Investment (ROI) for innovation projects in healthcare
• Global healthcare reform case studies:

1. NHS England’s Innovation Accelerators
2. Accountable Care Organisations (USA)
3. Singapore’s health financing reforms
4. Rwanda’s successful low-resource health system innovations

• The role of international organisations: WHO, OECD, World Bank in promoting global health innovation.
• Future visions: Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), universal health coverage, climate change and health economics, health equity frameworks.
• Ethical leadership in balancing financial stewardship with population health outcomes.

Upon successful completion of this training course, delegates will be awarded a Holistique Training Certificate of Completion. For those who attend and complete the online training course, a Holistique Training e-Certificate will be provided.

Holistique Training Certificates are accredited by the British Accreditation Council (BAC) and The CPD Certification Service (CPD), and are certified under ISO 9001, ISO 21001, and ISO 29993 standards.

CPD credits for this course are granted by our Certificates and will be reflected on the Holistique Training Certificate of Completion. In accordance with the standards of The CPD Certification Service, one CPD credit is awarded per hour of course attendance. A maximum of 50 CPD credits can be claimed for any single course we currently offer.