Course program
The course program is structured as per the schedule calendared on the Moodle platform. Within the same, the principles governing performance evaluation in health care, the concept of benchmarking, the main models, types and structure of indicators, institutional actors, and the role of patients in performance evaluation will be analyzed.
Project work presentations are scheduled on Dec. 17 and 18.
Lectures will end on December 18, 2025.
Prerequisites
Knowledge and understanding of the main concepts, principles, and organizational models of health care systems, with particular reference to the Italian health care system. This includes understanding the mechanisms of governance, financing, and delivery of care, as well as the principles of equity, effectiveness, efficiency, and quality that inspire the healthcare organization.
Books
The adoption of a manual is not scheduled.
Frequency
Attendance is not mandatory, but strongly recommended.
Exam mode
Evaluation Methods
20% class participation, including interaction with guest speakers and project work
80% final oral exam (open-ended questions)
A sufficient grade (18/30) is the minimum needed in the final written exam to pass.
Bibliography
Teaching Material – key readings:
The features of the healthcare sector and services
- Berwick, D. M. (2016). Era 3 for medicine and health care. JAMA, 315(13), 1329-1330. (MANDATORY)
- Wagstaff, A. (2009). Social health insurance vs. tax-financed health systems-evidence from the OECD. World Bank policy research working paper, (4821). (MANDATORY)
- Ricciardi, W., & Tarricone, R. (2021). The evolution of the Italian national health service. The Lancet, 398(10317), 2193-2206. (MANDATORY)
Governance mechanisms in healthcare
- Papanicolas et al. (2022) Health System Performance Assessment framework. Health Policy Series, No. 57 European Observatory – WHO (MANDATORY)
- Donabedian A. (1988). The quality of care. How can it be assessed?. JAMA, 260(12), 1743–1748. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.260.12.1743 (MANDATORY)
- Nuti S., Noto G., Vola F., Vainieri M. 2018. Let’s play the patient's music: a new generation of performance measurement systems in healthcare. Management Decision (MANDATORY)
- Vainieri, M., Noto, G., Ferré, F., Rosella, L. C., A Performance Management System in Healthcare for All Seasons? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020. (MANDATORY)
- Wadmann, S., Johansen, S., Lind, A., Birk, H. O., & Hoeyer, K. (2013). Analytical perspectives on performance-based management: an outline of theoretical assumptions in the existing literature. Health Economics, Policy and Law, 8(4), 511-527. (MANDATORY)
- Bevan, G., Evans, A., & Nuti, S. (2019). Reputations count: why benchmarking performance is improving health care across the world. Health Economics, Policy and Law, 14(2), 141-161. (MANDATORY)
- O'Flynn, J. (2007). From new public management to public value: Paradigmatic change and managerial implications. Australian journal of public administration, 66(3), 353-366. (MANDATORY)
PREMs and PROMs in healthcare
- Flott, K.M., Graham, C., Darzi, A. and Mayer, E. (2017), “Can we use patient-reported feedback to drive change? the challenges of using patient-reported feedback and how they might be addressed”, BMJ Quality and Safety, BMJ Publishing Group, 1 June, doi: 10.1136/bmjqs-2016-005223 (MANDATORY)
- Nuti, S., De Rosis, S., Bonciani, M., & Murante, A. M. (2017). Rethinking Healthcare Performance Evaluation Systems towards the People-Centredness Approach: Their Pathways, their Experience, their Evaluation. Healthcare Papers (MANDATORY)
- De Rosis, S., Ferrè, F. & Pennucci, F. (2022). Including patient reported measures in performance evaluation systems: Patient contribution in assessing and improving the healthcare systems. The International Journal of Health Planning and Management, 37, 144-165 (MANDATORY)
Innovation challenges in healthcare
- Vinci A., Vandelli A., Caputo A., Vainieri M., Supporting the digital transformation journey through monitoring systems in healthcare. A comparative analysis of European empirical approaches through an adaptation of the IPOO framework, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 221, December 2025, 124340. (MANDATORY)
Lesson mode
The course is arranged mixing lectures with seminars, project work, and case studies. Lectures will include theoretical issues and the recent developments in health service research. The course also considers practical sessions in which students are invited to read technical documents and discuss the assigned readings, as well as discuss their analyses with practitioners and managers of health systems.
