Innovation in Health Policy

The United States is facing many major public health and health systems challenges ranging from deteriorating mental health to high health care costs to rising maternal mortality. Innovation in health policies—the laws, regulations, actions, and decisions implemented by governments to promote health and wellness—to address these challenges is actively occurring at the local, state, and federal level. The objective of this course is to gain a deeper understanding of a selection of major health system challenges and to evaluate recent health policy innovations that have been implemented in response. Using frameworks for problem diagnosis and policy evaluation, we will identify the causes and consequences of public health challenges and consider whether and how particular policy innovations will produce the desired outcomes, identify potential pitfalls, and consider alternate or complementary solutions. Students will also have the opportunity to work in groups to develop a policy innovation proposal and critique those proposed by their peers. The goal of the course is to equip students with practical tools for proposing and evaluating policy options in response to contemporary public health and health systems challenges.