Course syllabus for Health technology assessment

Course syllabus adopted 2025-02-25 by Head of Programme (or corresponding).

Overview

  • Swedish nameUtvärdering av medicinsk teknik
  • CodeEEN236
  • Credits7.5 Credits
  • OwnerMPMED
  • Education cycleSecond-cycle
  • Main field of studyBiomedical engineering
  • DepartmentMEDICIN (GU)
  • GradingTH - Pass with distinction (5), Pass with credit (4), Pass (3), Fail

Course round 1

  • Teaching language English
  • Application code 41122
  • Maximum participants80
  • Open for exchange studentsNo
  • Only students with the course round in the programme overview.

Credit distribution

0125 Oral examination 3 c
Grading: UG
3 c
0225 Laboratory 2 c
Grading: UG
2 c
0325 Examination 2.5 c
Grading: TH
2.5 c

In programmes

Examiner

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Eligibility

General entry requirements for Master's level (second cycle)
Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements above.

Specific entry requirements

English 6 (or by other approved means with the equivalent proficiency level)
Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements above.

Course specific prerequisites

Admission requirements for the master’s degree program in Biomedical Engineering are applied.

Aim

The aim of this course is to give students a foundational understanding of Health Technology Assessment (HTA), which refers to the systematic evaluation of properties, effects, and/or impacts of health technology, considering a multidisciplinary process to evaluate the clinical, social, economic, organizational, and ethical aspects of a health intervention or health technology. With the acquired knowledge and skills, the students will be able to evaluate medical devices and solutions from multiple perspectives.

Learning outcomes (after completion of the course the student should be able to)

1)    To describe and critically discuss Health Technology Assessment methods and processes
- for understanding how the clinical effectiveness and patient outcomes of medical devices are being assessed
- for understand the effects of medical devices from social, organizational and ethical viewpoints
- for understanding the role of economic evaluations of medical devices

2)  To apply and present Health Technology Assessment principles to cases of medical devices, in writing and orally

3)  To understand microeconomic theories and its applications in health and healthcare and in HTA context

4)  To describe concepts and designs of economic evaluation of health care interventions

5)  To perform basic calculations of key components in economic evaluation of health care interventions and equity measurements

Content

The course will include three specific areas. Firstly, an overall understanding of the role of the multidimensional aspects of Health Technology Assessment, within evidence-based healthcare. Secondly, basic of microeconomic theories and its applications in health and healthcare analysis. Thirdly, effectiveness and in particular cost-effectiveness analyses as an integral part of Health Technology Assessments of healthcare interventions/medical devices. In the first area, clinical effectiveness and patient outcomes, social, organization and ethical dimensions of medical technologies will be discussed in relation to its assessment for application in the health sector and further studied in a group work applied to case examples of medical devices.  In the second area, demand, supply, equilibrium in market and economic efficiency in general as well as in health sector will be covered. In the third area, methods for the assessment of healthcare intervention effectiveness in terms of health outcomes and patient benefits as well as key components of health economic evaluations are covered, including the reporting of cost-effectiveness results within Health Technology Assessment reports. Further, applications of economic evaluations of medical devices s and equity in health and healthcare utilization will be covered during lectures and seminars in the course.    

Organisation

Lectures about Health Technology Assessment methods, microeconomic theories and methods, as well as methods of cost-effectiveness analysis of health technologies will be provided using digital platform and interactive discussions.  An oral examination (seminar) and group assignment (written submission) on HTA related concepts and dimensions, applied to cases of medical devices will be organized. Group assignments (written submission) will also be organized on usefulness of microeconomic theories and cases in relation to cost-effectiveness analysis in the context of HTA. Laboratory sessions will be organized for data analyses to understand the process of conducting economic evaluations in health and healthcare. Self-instructed numerical exercises on economic evaluation will be supplied via Student Portal. Finally, a written examination covering theories, methods and applications of HTA, microeconomics and economic evaluations will be conducted.

Literature

⦁    Health technology assessment of medical devices - WHO Medical device technical series, ISBN 978 92 4 150136 1. World Health Organization, 2011. Geneva.

⦁    Morris, S., Devlin N., Parkin. D., Spencer, A. Economic Analysis in Health Care, 2nd Edition. 2012. London.

⦁    Wagstaff A. The demand for health: theory and applications Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 1986, 40, 1-11.

⦁    Additional material, e.g., scientific articles, will be supplied via the Student Portal

Examination including compulsory elements

The students are supposed to complete all three moments below for passing with different grades in the course:

Module 1: Oral examination (seminar) and group assignment (Written submission), 3 credits
Module 2: Laboratory (completion of economic evaluation exercises), 2 credits
Module 3: Written Examination, 2.5 credit

Grading scale, per module and for full course
In module 1: For ‘pass’ grade, the students must present orally and in writing the Health Technology Assessment assignment and submit the assignments on microeconomic theories, models and applications. Only pass grade is given.

In module 2: For ‘pass’ grade, the students must complete the individual exercises through laboratory assignments. Only pass grade is given.

In module 3: the students must obtain 50% of the total marks for ‘pass’ grade, 70% for ‘pass with credit’ grade and 85% for ‘pass with distinction’.

The grade in the entire course will be determined by the grade in module 3, while the students must get ‘pass’ grade in module 1 and module 2.


The course examiner may assess individual students in other ways than what is stated above if there are special reasons for doing so, for example if a student has a decision from Chalmers about disability study support.