What is Health Economics

Over the past sixty years, developed countries have registered high growth of total expenditure on health, which has attracted the attention of health economists, organizations, and policymakers alike. At the same time, the authors observe the increasingly important role of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), not only in improving diagnosis and treatment and the quality of information, but also in the growth of these expenditures. According to this scenario, the authors focus on the development of Health Economics as an autonomous branch within Economics, highlighting not only its origin and the leading authors that began to write about it, but also the impact and the role of the development of ICTs on Health Economics and healthcare.