Global Healthcare Finance and Ethics
| Module title | Global Healthcare Finance and Ethics |
|---|---|
| Module code | HPDM197 |
| Academic year | 2025/6 |
| Credits | 15 |
| Module staff | Mr Richard Lake (Convenor) |
| Duration: Term | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration: Weeks | 4 |
Module description
In this module you will explore the sources, uses and management of finance in a global healthcare setting. The use of accounting and other information systems to support decision making and service improvements will be explored, with a focus on behavioural as well as financial influences. You will gain a broad understanding of the fundamental elements of healthcare finance, costs and budgets in an organisation.
This will be supported by an introduction to medical ethics in relation to resource allocation and financial decision making – from the perspective of the population and the individual patient, at a local, national and international level. Sustainable finance will be considered, incorporating environment, social and governance factors which are related to financial decisions. You will consider issues relating to sustainable finance such as greenwashing, sustainability ratings, and environment social governance risk, along with practices which support the Sustainable Development Goals.
The perspective of health economics will be addressed with consideration given to issues such as healthcare supply and demand, differences in healthcare financing models across the globe, and the integration of health economics principles into healthcare policy and decision-making to maximise impact on health outcomes (in alignment with the sustainable development goals).
Module aims - intentions of the module
The aim of this module is to familiarise you with the fundamentals of finance with particular attention to the sources, uses, and management aspects of costs and budgets within a healthcare context using theory, practical real-world examples, case studies, and financial modelling tools. You will then explore how finances influence behaviour and develop skills to improve your financial decision-making in healthcare. Following this you will then progress to consider bioethics, the ethics of resource allocation, how this influences financial and treatment decision-making, and how to apply ethical thinking to financial decisions. You will consider the Sustainable Development Goals and the role of finance in an organisation in achieving related goals. This will then prepare you to balance the population, the patient, and financial interests when developing and challenging strategic and operational proposals. You will consider the role of economics in global financing and the interaction between policy and healthcare, and how an understanding of economics can drive change relative to the Sustainable Development Goals.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
ILO: Module-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 1. Identify and interpret the principles of medical ethics and values-based leadership
- 2. Critically appraise global strategies and operations in terms of ethics, responsibility, sustainability, resource allocation and business continuity/risk management
- 3. Apply and examine financial strategies including scenarios, modelling and identifying global trends
- 4. Evaluate financial strategies/management, results, and set organisational budgets
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 5. Evaluate and synthesise complex financial and non-financial information, and use it to allocate resources
- 6. Apply the knowledge and understanding of financial matters to decision-making and to challenge financial assumptions underpinning global healthcare strategy
ILO: Personal and key skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 7. Put forward an argument to explain the ethical considerations related to financial and non-financial priorities for allocating resources with a finite budget
- 8. Self-reflect on Sustainable Development Goals and skills needed as a leader to impact global goals through financial initiatives
Syllabus plan
Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, an example of an overall structure is as follows:
- Financial Aspects of Management
- Consideration of local healthcare systems
- Consideration of national healthcare systems (using NHS as a case study):
- Flow of NHS funds including CCGs, specialised commissioning, primary care, Health Education England, providers
- NHS contracts and Payment by Results
- Financial incentives for commissioners, NHS providers, private providers and impact on behaviour
- Consideration of Global healthcare systems (e.g. Vaccine distribution programs [COVID]; disease surveillance networks, capacity building in low-resource settings)
- Capital and revenue
- Cost behaviour – variable, semi-fixed, fixed, overheads – and how this affects decision-making
- Budget management (including accruals) and forecasting
- Budget setting, business planning, business cases – funding service developments
- Cost improvements – cost reduction, cost avoidance, productivity, income generation
- Financial Reporting
- Ethics and sustainable development in finance
- Principles of Bioethics
- Ethics of resource allocation
- Ethical and financial decision-making
- Population vs patient ethics and exceptional cases
- Economics and global healthcare policy
- Economics theory, policy, and decision-making
- Healthcare supply and demand
- Healthcare financing models (globally)
- Using health economics to impact Sustainable Development Goals
A total of 150 hours of learning activities and teaching methods is required for this 15-credit point module.
Face-to-face scheduled lectures and tutorials may be replaced by short, pre-recorded videos and/or brief overview lectures delivered via MS Teams/Zoom, with learning consolidated by self-directed learning resources and ELE activities if a situation arises that the scheduled activities are interrupted. These interruptions should be minimised.
Descriptions of scheduling are to be taken as an example and can be changed without notice depending on timetabling restrictions within the programme and/or university room availability.
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 25 | 125 | 0 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Learning and Teaching | 20 | 5 hrs X 4 (20 hrs) face-to-face Examples might include: lectures, workshops, and seminars. Practical exercises, simulated case studies, and engagement with real-world scenarios to foster experiential learning with opportunities for peer and facilitator feedback. |
| Learning and Teaching | 5 | 2 hrs X 1; 1 hr X 3 (5 hrs) Tutorials Examples include: group discussions and action learning |
| Guided independent study | 10 | Web-based learning, workplace reflection, resource gathering, and in-depth reading during the period of module delivery. Preparation and writing of finance, budgeting, and ethical exercises. |
| Guided independent study | 10 | 2 hrs x 5 (10 hrs). Tutorial preparation |
| Guided independent study | 105 | Reflection, preparation and writing for assessments |
Formative assessment
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Workplace reflective logs | Various and ongoing | 1-8 | Oral |
| Case-based discussions | Various and ongoing | 1-8 | Oral |
| Small group projects | Various and ongoing | 1-8 | Oral |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 0 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finance, budgeting, and ethical exercises | 100 | 2,000 words | 1-8 | Written |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finance, budgeting, and ethical exercises (100%) | Finance, budgeting, and ethical exercises (2,000 words) | 1-8 | Within 6 weeks |
Re-assessment notes
Please refer to the TQA section on Referral/Deferral: http://as.exeter.ac.uk/academic-policy-standards/tqa-manual/aph/consequenceoffailure/
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
Sustainable Development Goals:
Aras, G. (Ed.). (2024). Sustainable Finance for Sustainable Development: Regulations, Theory and Practice. Taylor & Francis.
Basic reading:
Appleby J, Galea A, Murray R (2014) The NHS productivity challenge: experience from the front line
Berwick, D. (2008) The science of improvement. JAMA 299 (10) 1182-1184
Carter (2016) Operational productivity and performance in English NHS acute hospitals
Dunn P, McKenna H, Murray R. (2016) Deficits in the NHS
Gainsbury S, (2016) Feeling the crunch: NHS finances to 2020
Lafond S, Charlesworth S, Roberts A (2015) Hospital finances and productivity: in a critical condition?
PF Perspectives: Funding a Healthy Future Journal October 2016
Robertson R, Wenzel L, Thompson J, Charles A (2017) Understanding NHS financial pressures: How are they affecting patient care?
Beauchamp and Childress (2001) Principles of Biomedical Ethics
Weinstein et al (2009) QALYs – The Basics
NHS Confederation (2008) Priority setting: managing individual funding requests.
Rawls J (2001) Justice as Fairness – A Restatement
| Credit value | 15 |
|---|---|
| Module ECTS | 7.5 |
| Module pre-requisites | None |
| Module co-requisites | None |
| NQF level (module) | 7 |
| Available as distance learning? | No |
| Origin date | 25/04/2025 |
