Topics in U.S. Health Economics, Sociology, and Policy

This seminar course will explore three topics: 1) Do physicians, hospitals, and health plans have a "business case" for making investments to improve quality in health care? 2) What relationship (if any) is there among the malpractice system, medical errors, patient safety, and quality? 3) Has medical practice in the U.S. been "corporatized"? What might this mean, and what might be the benefits and costs? We will approach these topics by drawing from the health policy, law, and organizational and institutional sociology and economics literatures.