Financial Literacy in Health Economics

This is a online course organised by the University of Novi Sad. The course seeks to equip students with a comprehensive understanding of cost structures in healthcare, particularly within hospital settings. With escalating healthcare costs globally, hospital administrators and government regulators need precise knowledge of how funds are allocated to ensure sustainability and profitability. This course provides the tools and insights required to make informed financial decisions in the healthcare sector. Participants who finish the course will gain 2 ECTS.

Guided by Prof. Dr. Andrea Ivanišević and Prof. Dr. Danijela Ćirić Lalić, the course employs an interactive pedagogical approach. Students will be introduced to foundational concepts through visual presentations, stimulating discussions, and real-life case studies.

Each teaching session is structured as follows:

• Lecture Segment: Introduction to the day's topic, inclusive of key concept explanations and illustrative case studies.
• Practical Segment: Students delve into problem-solving exercises based on case studies which are pivotal for their assessments.

• Furthermore, participants will collaborate in groups on short project tasks. The continuous presence and interaction of both lecturers throughout the course not only enrich the learning experience but also foster an environment conducive to open discussions

Key Topics:

• Introduction to health economics: Introduction to health economics: Supply and Demand in healthcare - basic concepts and application of concepts in Health Economics.
• Cost terms and concepts in Health Economics.
• The significance of cost analysis in healthcare and Cost-Volume-Profit (CVP) analysis.
• Assessing relevant costs and revenues for decisive actions.
• Using Health Economics to Assess the place of Screening.
• An overview of the budgeting process in healthcare institutions.
• In-depth exploration of standard costing and variance analysis.
• A study of Divisional Financial Performance Measurement.

Learning objectives

Students will get to understand the cost structures in healthcare, particularly within hospital settings. Participants can expect to be provided with tools and insights, which may facilitate their financial decisions in the healthcare sector.

Competences

• Critical thinking
• Financial & legal literacy
• Creativity & problem solving

Requirements

• Selection strategy: The first 40 applied participants, equally distributed among partners will be accepted for the course.
• Number of participants: 40.
• Certificate/ECTS: 2 ECTS.
• Language: English.

This activity is part of Work Package 2.