Digital Health Economics Education Gains Momentum in Medical Schools

In a groundbreaking study, researchers at a German university have emphasized the need for integrated health economics content in medical education to address the increasing economization of healthcare. The research involved a survey of 3,042 medical students across 36 German medical faculties, revealing a significant gap in education and care. A substantial 75% of respondents felt their knowledge in health economics was insufficient, while 93% favored digital teaching formats.

Key Takeaways:

• The study highlights a pressing need for integrated health economics content in medical education, with 75% of respondents perceiving their knowledge as insufficient.
• 93% of students prefer digital teaching formats, such as e-learning, for health economics education.
• Significant differences in approval were evident according to age and stage of study, but not according to gender.
• The concept of digital health economics education (DHEE) is proposed as a forward-looking teaching concept that conveys health economics content digitally and interdisciplinarity.
• DHEE offers great potential for addressing structural challenges, including resource scarcity, increasing economic pressure to make decisions, and a lack of management skills in everyday medical practice.
• Close cooperation between medicine and health economics in research and teaching is required to enable sustainable integration into the curriculum.

Statistics:

• 75% of respondents considered their knowledge of health economics to be insufficient.
• 93% of students preferred digital teaching formats, such as e-learning.
• 3,042 students of human medicine participated in the survey.
• The study was conducted between April and October 2021.

Sources:

• The gap in medical education: the missing element of digital health economics education - a prospective cross-sectional pilot study. Frontiers in Medicine, 2025;12:1624053. Frontiers in Medicine can be contacted at: Frontiers Media Sa, Avenue Du Tribunal Federal 34, Lausanne, Ch-1015, Switzerland.