Biomedical Engineering

Knowledge and understanding The course deals with the decision making processes of firms, focusing in particular on the healthcare industry. Students are expected to learn the basic principles of: • microeconomic analysis of the firm, • the structure of firms and their internal organization in the healthcare industry, • economic evaluation of investment projects, • cost-effectiveness analysis and cost-utility analisys • the organization of national health system Applying knowledge and understanding Students will be able to apply basic methods and models of microeconomics, corporate finance, evaluation of health care programmes, in order to: • identify the determinants of firms’ strategic choices, focusing in particular on the firms operating in the healthcare industry, • evaluate the profitability of investment projects, • compare different healthcare projects. Making judgements Lectures, practical exercises and problem-solving sessions will provide students with the ability to assess the main strengths and weaknesses of theoretical models when used to identify firms’strategies and evaluate healthcare projects. Communication By the end of the course, students are able to discuss ideas, problems and solutions provided by microeconomics, corporate finance and evaluation techniques of healthcare programmes both with a specialized and a non-specialized audience. These capabilities are tested and evaluated in the final written exam and possibly in the oral exam. Lifelong learning skills Students are expected to develop those learning skills necessary to undertake additional studies on relevant topics in microeconomics, corporate finance and evaluation of health care programmes with a high degree of autonomy. During the course, students are encouraged to investigate further any topics of major interest, by consulting supplementary academic publications, specialized books, and internet sites. These capabilities are tested and evaluated in the final written exam and possibly in the oral exam, where students may have to discuss and solve some new problems based on the topics and material covered in class.