Rationing and Allocating Scarce Medical Resources

This course will explore the complex challenges of allocating scarce medical resources at both the micro and macro level. Students will learn the theories behind allocation and use modern examples to explore how society makes the difficult decisions that arise when there is not enough to go around.

About the Course

You have one liver but three patients are awaiting a liver transplant. Who should get the liver? What criteria should be used to select the recipient? Is it fair to give it to an alcoholic? These are some of the questions that arise in the context of rationing and allocating scarce health care resources among particular individuals. These are called micro-allocation decisions. There are also macro-allocation decisions that focus on how health care systems distribute resources across populations. Using the cases of organs for transplantation, the rationing for vaccines in a flu pandemic, and oncology drug shortages, the course will critically examine alternative theories for allocating scarce resources among individuals. Using both the need to establish priorities for global health aid and to define an essential benefit package for health insurance, the course will critically examine diverse theories for macro-allocation from cost-effectiveness analysis to age-based rationing to accountability for reasonableness. There are no prerequisites or required knowledge to take this course.

About the Instructor(s)

Ezekiel J. Emanuel is the Vice Provost for Global Initiatives, the Diane v.S. Levy and Robert M. Levy University Professor, and Chair of the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. From January 2009 to January 2011, he served as special advisor for health policy to the director of the Office of Management and Budget in the White House. From 1997 to 2011, he was chair of the Department of Bioethics at the National Institutes of Health. He is also a breast oncologist. Dr. Emanuel received his M.D. from Harvard Medical School and his Ph.D. in political philosophy from Harvard University. After completing his internship and residency in internal medicine at Boston's Beth Israel Hospital and his oncology fellowship at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, he joined the faculty at Harvard Medical School. He has since been a visiting professor at UCLA, the Brin Professor at Johns Hopkins Medical School, the Kovitz Professor at Stanford Medical School and visiting professor at New York University Law School. Dr. Emanuel has written and edited 9 books and over 200 scientific articles. He is currently a columnist for the New York Times. He appears regularly on television including Morning Joe, Real Time with Bill Maher, and Hardball with Chris Matthews.

FAQ

• Will I get a Statement of Accomplishment after completing this class?

  Yes. Students who successfully complete the class will receive a Atatement of Accomplishment signed by the instructor.

Provided by:

University: University of Pennsylvania

Instructor(s): Ezekiel J. Emanuel, M.D., Ph.D.