Course Description
The field of policy evaluation from a public health perspective. Provides a survey of standard quantitative and qualitative techniques for prospectively analyzing health policy issues, including multi-criteria decision making, benefit-cost and cost- effectiveness analyses, and political analysis.
Athena Title
Adv Policy Eval in Public Hlth
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in HPAM 8450E
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
Prospective evaluations of health policies are designed to improve knowledge about the potential impacts of policy to inform decision makers and the affected population. The assessments facilitate adjustment of the proposed policy in order to maximize the positive impacts of the policy on the affected population and to mitigate the potential for negative impacts. In this course, students will develop the ability to: 1. Interpret the empirical aspects of health policy and provide an analytic framework for assessing the value judgments that inevitably influence health policy decisions. 2. Discuss the main concepts and suggested approaches for health impact assessments. 3. Prospectively analyze a health policy topic from the perspective of economic efficiency, equity, health inequalities, fiscal effects, and political feasibility. 4. Evaluate the outcomes of a policy analysis using a number of quantitative and qualitative tools. 5. Develop and present a prospective evaluation of a local, state, national, or international health policy of their choice.
Topical Outline
I. Evaluation in the Context of Policy Analysis II. Criteria for Prospectively Evaluating Policies a. Equity, effectiveness, efficiency, costs, externalities, administrative feasibility, political feasibility III. Quantitative Methods for Prospectively Evaluating Policies a. Mathematical optimizing, with an emphasis on decision science b. Multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) IV. Monetary Policy Evaluation Methods a. Benefit-cost analysis b. OMB regulatory reporting requirements c. Cost-effectiveness analysis d. ROI analyses e. CBO Scorecards V. Qualitative Policy Evaluation Methods a. Stakeholder analysis b. Political analysis c. Policy transfer, or decision making by analogy VI. Health Impact Assessments as a Type of Policy Evaluation VII. Use (and Misuse) of Policy Evaluations Results a. Legislative impact analyses b. Policy briefs and memos
Syllabus