Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Health Economics
Validated by University of South Wales
Our online, one year Postgraduate Diploma in Health Economics aims to develop skilled leaders in health economics, and is particularly suited to those engaged in health technology assessment (HTA), healthcare policy and healthcare decision making.
As a leading health economics diploma provider in the UK, we are proud to offer a comprehensive programme that places significant emphasis on the critical evaluation and interpretation of health economic data. This approach is vital for HTA, which is essential for informed decision making in healthcare, ensuring that resources are allocated efficiently and effectively to improve health outcomes for diverse populations.
We aim to address real world healthcare challenges with a sustainable goal of ensuring wealth and wellbeing for all, offering you the opportunity to contribute significantly to the achievement of ensuring healthy lives and promoting wellbeing for all, at all ages.
Next intake: March 2025Key Facts
The global impact of our diploma in health economics is undeniable; you will learn with a multidisciplinary peer network of healthcare professionals all over the world, resulting in numerous benefits for your career. This structure supports you to become an ethical and resilient professional, capable of making a tangible difference and societal impact in healthcare, both within local communities and on an international scale.
By choosing to study your health economics diploma online, you have the benefit of studying from anywhere and logging in at a time convenient to you every day. This enables you to advance your skills and career while continuing to work full-time and balance your studies in a way that suits you.
On successful completion of this diploma health economics programme, you will be able to:
- Articulate professional decisions, incorporating an evidence based rationale, in a variety of diverse and complex situations.
- Demonstrate the ability to work in multi-agency, multicultural and/or international contexts.
- Apply leadership and evaluation skills in the subject area of health economics.
- Critically analyse data and data interpretation, applying a critical understanding of the economic burden of chronic diseases, various types of analyses, setting pay thresholds and the budget impact.
- Evaluate sub-national health economic decision making processes and gain working knowledge of health economics used in health technology appraisals.
Faculty
Programme Leader
Rui Dang
I’m currently a senior lecturer in economics at Westminster International University in Tashkent. In addition, I’ve joined Learna as a Programme Leader for Applied Health Economics programs. I...
Tutor
Leela Barham
After qualifying with an Economics BSc from the University of Nottingham and a Health Economics MSc from the University of York, Leela has been working as a Health...
Tutor
Mr Syed Raza
Mr Syed Raza is a Health Economist with tremendous experience in sales, marketing and market access, looking to further progress a career in national/international health economics, pricing...
Tutor
Mr Sohaib Ashraf
Mr Sohaib Ashraf has been working for NICE (England) as a health economist in the Guideline Update Team, creating world class clinical guideline for the previous 2...
Validating partner
University of South Wales
The University of South Wales (USW) is a modern, industry focused University located in Cardiff, Newport and Pontypridd in South Wales, UK. It was rated best in the UK for the Health Professions in the Guardian University Guide 2020 and, in the latest Complete University Guide 2022, is in the top 10 in the UK for Health Studies. USW is one of Britain’s largest and most exciting new universities attracting a cosmopolitan mix of students from across the globe.
Accreditors and Endorsers
UEMS - European Union of Medical Specialists
This postgraduate course has also been accredited by the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS)
Next intake: March 2025 Key Facts
Programme Leader
Rui Dang
I’m currently a senior lecturer in economics at Westminster International University in Tashkent. In addition, I’ve joined Learna as a Programme Leader for Applied Health Economics programs. I contribute to the International Journal of Technical Assessment of Health Care(Cambridge University Press) as an associate editor and an editorial board member of the Journal of Migration and Health(Elsevier).
I am also a member of the EHMA-European Health Management Association's scientific advisory committee, a member of the CUGH-Consortium of Universities for Global Health's education committee and global health competency subcommittee, a co-convener of the iHEA-International Health Economics Association and a Global Labor Organization fellow.
I was formerly an assistant professor of economics and management at the University of Information Science and Technology, "St. Paul Apostle," as well as an assistant professor of economics at Istanbul University of Technology. As a guest lecturer, I've lectured at Gdansk University of Technology and Rio Grande do Sul's Pontifical Catholic University.
My research interests include health economics, health policy, population economics, applied micro econometrics, and quantitative approaches in public health and clinical research. I find teaching health economics is both challenging and rewarding for me since it requires the application of a wide variety of concepts and methodologies from several fields. Applied Health Economics provides students with a high level of comprehensive training, experience, and abilities required for research and health-care decision-making in a variety of healthcare contexts to improve the healthcare landscape and provision.
Tutor
Leela Barham
After qualifying with an Economics BSc from the University of Nottingham and a Health Economics MSc from the University of York, Leela has been working as a Health Economist and Policy Expert for over 15 years.
She has provided advice to the Department of Health and Social Care on the pricing of branded medicines, and also worked with patient groups, the NHS, and pharmaceutical companies on the economics of healthcare and pharmaceuticals. Since 2008, Leela has been running her own consulting business, Leela Barham Economic Consulting Ltd.
She has participated in several national and international conferences and has been published in a range of journals, including The Patient, PharmacoEconomics and Nursing Standard. In addition, Leela has also written a number of academic articles and peer-reviewed journals for Pharmaceutical Executive, The European Journal of Health Economics, and Pharmaphorum.
Tutor
Mr Syed Raza
Mr Syed Raza is a Health Economist with tremendous experience in sales, marketing and market access, looking to further progress a career in national/international health economics, pricing and market access. He has an MBA and MSc in Health Economics Qualifications, and over 15 years of experience within the pharmaceutical industry. Most of Mr Raza's work within the industry is concerning Market access and HEOR, whilst currently working for American biotech in the rare (orphan) disease space as International Pricing & HTA lead. His aims and motivations are to improve patients outcomes by adhering to evidence-based prescribing and recommendations.
Tutor
Mr Sohaib Ashraf
Mr Sohaib Ashraf has been working for NICE (England) as a health economist in the Guideline Update Team, creating world class clinical guideline for the previous 2 years. Prior to this, he has worked in a consultancy to the pharmaceutical industry, and as an intern at Boehringer Ingelheim, a German pharmaceutical company.
He has a Masters in Pharmacy, and a Masters in Health Economics and Decision Modelling.
He thoroughly enjoys facilitating students' learning, and always encourages students to contact him.
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Why Study an Applied Health Economics Postgraduate Diploma with Learna
We have over 10 years’ experience delivering online courses, giving you access to flexible, affordable distance learning in partnership with world-leading educators.
100% Flexible
Our courses are 100% online. No fixed study times mean you can log in and learn whenever and wherever.
Multidisciplinary - study in a group of doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals.
Expert Led
All of our programmes are authored and developed by world leading experts in their field.
Our faculty are selected due to their subject expertise, experience and teaching abilities to ensure the highest standards of educational excellence.
Career Boosting
Get a University Validated postgraduate qualification in just 1 calendar year instead of 2 academic years.
40% of our alumni reported an increase in salary 2 years after studying with us.
Who is this course for?
Our distance learning post graduate diploma in health economics has been developed for:
- NHS Managers
- Doctors
- Nurses
- Allied Health Professionals
- CCG commissioning teams
- CCG Pharmacy teams
- Pharmaceutical Industry Professionals
- Other suitably qualified and interested individuals.
How Will I Learn?
You'll learn through our flexible, interactive online platform, which allows you to engage with clinical cases, complete assignments, and collaborate with fellow students at times that suit your schedule. There's no fixed timetable—simply log in daily to participate in the week's activities.
Learn through engaging discussion
Our teaching approach is highly interactive, using small groups of 10-20 students to foster a collaborative environment where you can engage in thoughtful discussions and receive guidance from your tutor. You'll have access to learning resources and discussion forums that encourage ongoing interaction and deeper engagement with the material.
Throughout your studies, you'll receive support from a dedicated expert tutor and our Student Support Team, ensuring you have the resources needed to navigate the course successfully.
Curriculum
Our online post graduate diploma in health economics allows you to study for just one calendar year and is a part-time, distance-learning course. The course is worth 120 credits and comprises six modules of 20 credits, each running over a period of six weeks.Module Aims
- To understand and evaluate the purpose, principles and processes of health economics in healthcare decision making & HTA.
- To understand and critically evaluate the strengths and limitations of health economics in healthcare decision making & HTA in regard to meeting their aims/achieving their purpose.
- To understand the relevance of Health Economic decision making to clinical practice.
Module Content
- Principles of Health Economics
- The role and function of health technology assessment (HTA)
- Common misconceptions of Health Economics & HTA
- Health Economics & HTA as part of Evidence Based Medicine/ Practice (from National, to Sub-National, to Personal Practice)
- The relevance of Health Economics to healthcare professionals
- The effect of budget on decision making
Learning Outcomes
- Demonstrate the ability to critically evaluate processes used in health economic decision making.
- Demonstrate a working knowledge of health economics used in health technology appraisals.
Module Aims
Develop a critical understanding of the way in which benefits or clinical value are calculated and judged within health economic decision making.
Module Content
- Identifying clinical benefit: Critical Appraisal and Systematic Literature Review
- Length vs. Quality of life (QoL): the Quality Adjusted Life Year (QALY)
- Challenges with length of life estimations: time horizons, extrapolation, bias towards the younger patient, the need for future discounting
- Avoidance of negative events
- Critical appraisal of clinical data: Evidence Based Medicine and HTA/Health Economic Decision Making
- Critical appraisal of real world data
Learning Outcomes
- Demonstrate the ability to critically appraise the strengths and limitations of the Quality Adjusted Life Year as a measure of clinical benefit.
- Demonstrate the ability to apply principles of Evidence Based Medicine to assess the quality of clinical evidence used to support patient benefit within HTA/ health economic decision making.
Module Aims
To develop a critical understanding of the economic burden of chronic diseases, types of economic analyses, establishing pay thresholds and budget impact.
Module Content
- Investigating and establishing the economic burden of disease
- Types of analysis: Cost-effectiveness, Cost-utility and Cost-minimisation
- Exploration and analysis of cost perspectives
- Willingness to pay thresholds
- Establishing budget impact
- Challenges: rare diseases, end of life considerations, unlicensed comparators, affordability and work flow change
Learning Outcomes
- Critically appraise to budgetary burden of chronic disease.
- Critically appraise the implementation of health economic analysis and budgetary impact in real life/complex clinical situations.
Module Aims
Develop a critical understanding of data interpretation including levels of evidence and statistical interpretation of data.
Module Content
- Additional Data Sources: Real World Data, Expert Opinion, The Patient’s Voice
- Statistics: Confidence intervals and p-values
- Statistics: Hazard ratios and NNT
- Statistics: Bayesian statistics and Cox model
- Statistics: Sensitivity Analysis and Marginal Analysis
- Statistics: Indirect Comparison and Meta-Analysis
Learning Outcomes
- Show an ability to critically evaluate the validity of published data.
- Critically appraise statistical interpretation of scientific data related to health economics.
Module Aims
To develop a critical understanding of the international health economic decision making processes within legal frameworks together with the procurement and tendering processes associated with treatments.
Module Content
- Examine the international Health Economic decision making process
- Legislations vs. Recommendations
- Stakeholders and Payers
- HTA vs. non HTA processes: Procurement, Tendering, and Commissioning
- Evolving Health System policy as it relates to Health Economic decision making
- Maximising patient benefit in healthcare decision making
Learning Outcomes
- Critically evaluate, understand and contrast the current models of healthcare decision making.
- Critically appraise the legal basis of economic decision making.
Module Aims
To appreciate and evaluate the process of implementation of Health Technology Appraisals at the regional and local levels. Appreciate and understand the makeup and evaluation of the stakeholder group at regional/local level.
Module Content
- Applying national decisions/guidelines at a subnational level
- Data required to make decisions at a Sub-National level
- Stakeholders/decision makers at a Sub-National level
- Challenges of implementation at national level to meet Sub-National budget constraints
- Implementation of HE analysis at sub national level with real world data
- Budgetary analyses at subnational level with real world data
Learning Outcomes
- Critically appraise the implementation of HTA advice at the regional and local level, evaluating the challenges of local implementation of national decisions.
- Critically evaluate stakeholder contributions to decision making at regional/local level.
Assessment Methods
This programme emphasises learning through active participation in case-based discussions, reflection, and real-life scenarios. Students engage with clinical cases that mirror everyday practice, fostering problem-solving and evidence-based application from the very beginning.
Across the modules, assessments are integrated with learning. Each week, you will work through two to three clinical cases, discussing and reflecting on them with peers under the guidance of an expert tutor. These discussions form the core of your learning and are also the basis for your assessments.
Our innovative teaching methods are designed to help you translate this learning into real-world clinical practice. You'll need to regularly log in to participate in discussions, ideally on a daily basis, and commit approximately two hours per day to your studies. Our dedicated Student Support Team is available to assist with any challenges you may encounter, from navigating our online platform to managing deadlines.
How Foundational Knowledge is Developed
The programme is structured so that foundational knowledge is introduced through carefully designed clinical cases. Each case is crafted to highlight essential concepts and progressively deepen your understanding as you apply critical thinking and evidence-based analysis. This hands-on approach ensures that you are not only acquiring theoretical knowledge but also learning how to apply it in a practical, clinical setting.
This programme is suited for professionals who thrive in an online, discussion-based learning environment. Please note that this course focuses on interactive, applied learning through peer collaboration and case discussions. You will be fully supported, encouraged and led through the programme to success and graduation!
- Every week students are presented with two/three clinical case-based scenarios that are reflective of every day clinical practice and research.
- Tutors will post a number of questions and prompts to aid students in a formal discussion of each case.
- These discussions are facilitated throughout by your tutor and are then assessed at the end of every module.
For this assessment, students will work on a group assignment and/or an individual assignment.
- Group assignments are designed to hone skills in the multidisciplinary, holistic approach to modern treatments and patient management by requiring group participation in a single piece of work.
- Individual assignments are designed to hone skills in academic career progression through such tasks as reviewing papers, developing scientific posters or abstracts, peer-reviewing, social media activities, patient information leaflets and essays.
- Students are provided with case-based problems in the form of a one-hour timed examination.
- The exam consists of 30 'Single Best Answer' questions.
- Students are required to complete the exam online within the set time.
The reflective journal is used by students throughout each module to monitor personal progress. This is guided by weekly feedback from your tutor and is graded at the end of every module. The journal typically includes the following:
- Initial expectations and reasons for taking the course.
- Module and/or personal learning objectives.
- Description of events, issues and learning points within current personal practice.
- Change in every day practice due to knowledge gained on each module.
- A description of what has been learned during the module.
Entry requirements
Since our distance learning post graduate diploma in health economics is conducted entirely online, it's accessible to both UK and international students without international surcharges.
Applicants will typically hold a first degree or equivalent (including international qualifications) in a relevant professional healthcare, policy or economics field.
Applicants without these recognised qualifications will be considered on an individual basis and a wide range of prior experience may be taken into account. In some cases, applicants may be asked to submit a piece of work for assessment in order to confirm that they are able to work comfortably at postgraduate level, and demonstrate requisite analytical skills.
Documents Required
- A copy of your updated CV including your address and date of birth.
- A copy of your undergraduate degree certificate.
- The name and email address of someone who is able to provide a reference, this can be a work colleague, employer or former tutor.
- A detailed personal statement explaining why you would like to undertake the course.
- A copy of your proof of English competency (see below).
English Language Requirements
Proficiency in the English language is also essential to completing our courses. If English is NOT your first language, we ask for proof of competency during the application process. We are able to accept an IELTS overall score of 6.0 (with a minimum of 5.5 for each band) or an equivalent qualification.
If you do not meet these requirements, please don’t worry. The University of South Wales run a number of English Language Programmes at the Centre for International English to prepare you for your academic studies. You can also contact our admissions team on admissions@diploma-msc.com for more information on the qualifications we accept.
Course Fees
Option 1: Upfront Payment in full. Option 2: Interest free payments every other month for the duration of the course.
| Date | Instalments | Up-Front Payments |
|---|---|---|
| Deposit | £770 | £4,600 |
| 1st May 2025 | £766 | |
| 1st July 2025 | £766 | |
| 1st September 2025 | £766 | |
| 1st November 2025 | £766 | |
| 1st January 2026 | £766 |
† Deposits are non-refundable
†† Prices are subject to review following each intake
Option 3: Lower your monthly payments by spreading the cost for between 2 and 8 years with a loan from our lending partner Lendwise*.
*Subject to eligibility criteria.
Learna | Diploma MSc has a partnership with Lendwise which is a leading private student loan provider, to help UK students fund their course fees should they require financing. Lendwise is a UK-based education finance platform through which candidates can fund their postgraduate and professional qualification studies at leading educational institutions.
A Lendwise loan comes with a fixed interest rate for the duration of the loan (between 2 and 8 years) and no early repayment penalties. The interest rate offered will depend on the overall applicant profile and the application process is entirely online.*
*Other sources of funding are available.
Learna | Diploma MSc does not offer financial advice, recommend or endorse any financial product. You should always check the suitability of the product that is of interest to you. If you are in any doubt as to its suitability, we suggest that you seek independent professional advice.
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Why Learna
We have over 10 years’ experience delivering online diploma courses, giving you access to flexible, affordable distance learning in partnership with world-leading educators.
Our courses are some of the most affordable of their kind, providing value for money without compromising on quality. We also don't apply an international surcharge. No fixed timetable means you can log in & learn on the go, at your convenience.
Being totally online means we can select the very best tutors and resource editors, no matter where they’re located.
Connect with multidisciplinary people around the world to expand your insights & broaden your career prospects.
Our programmes produce 90% fewer emissions than campus-based learning.
