Aspen N502 2019 September Full Course Latest

N502 Health Care Systems

Unit 1 Assignment

Health care planners could be more effective and efficient if they used the concept of the natural history of disease and the levels of prevention to design services that intervene at the weakest link in the chain of progression of specific diseases. Instead, most focus on high-technology solutions to preventable problems. Assess the characteristics of the medical care culture that encourage the latter approach.

Hospitals and other health care institutions, whether voluntary or for-profit, need to be financially solvent to survive growing market pressures. Describe how this "bottom line" focus has changed the nature of the US health care system.

The insurance industry plays a huge role in the American health care system and absorbs a significant portion of the health care dollar. A single payer system, whether it is a private company or the US government, would eliminate the complex insurance paperwork burden and free substantial funds that could be diverted to support care for the under-served. Why do you believe that so much resistance to a concept used in every other developed country has continued in the U.S.?

Please submit one APA formatted paper between 1000 - 1500 words, not including the title and reference page. The assignment should have a minimum of two scholarly sources, in addition to the textbook.

 

N502 Health Care Systems

Unit 2 Assignment

Professional Development Assignment

Based on what you have learned so far this week, create a PowerPoint presentation with detailed notes for each slide that addresses each of the following points/questions. Be sure to completely answer all the questions. Use clear headings that allow your professor to know which bullet you are addressing on the slides in your presentation. Support your content with at least four (4) citations throughout your presentation. Make sure to reference the citations using the APA writing style for the presentation. Include a slide for your references at the end. Follow best practices for PowerPoint presentations (an example is located in the Resources tab) related to text size, color, images, effects, wordiness, and multimedia enhancements.

Title Slide (1 slide)

For a hospital to operate efficiently and effectively, the three important influences in its governance, medical staff, board of trustees, and administration, must work together in reasonable harmony. What factors contribute to the tension that usually exists among them? (4 slides).

Organizations such as the LeapFrog Group represent a growing trend to survey and report on the quality of hospital care and to make the findings available to the public. What are your opinions about the public's readiness to deal with having this information available and using it to make choices about medical care? (2-3 slides)

Hospitals are facing unprecedented financial challenges from entrepreneurial physician initiatives that are establishing competitive, free-standing diagnostic and treatment centers and specialty hospitals. What are the advantages and disadvantages to these developments from a patient perspective? (2-3 slides)

 

 

N502 Health Care Systems

Unit 3 Assignment

Given the increasing longevity of Americans and the costs of providing long-term care, anticipation of the costs should be a major element of every family's financial planning. Current information suggests however, that very few families or individuals give this consideration. What factors might impede this advance planning? What measures might be effective in raising awareness among Americans about this important matter?

Identify the major factors that have resulted in the shift in utilization from inpatient hospitalization to ambulatory care services. What are the implications of this shift for hospitals, consumers, and the health care delivery system as a whole?

The recipients of mental health services in the US represent only a small percentage of those in need of services. Discuss the factors that impede access to mental illness treatment.

Please submit one APA formatted paper between 1000 - 1500 words, not including the title and reference page. The assignment should have a minimum of two scholarly sources, in addition to the textbook.

 

N502 Health Care Systems

Unit 4 Assignment

Professional Development Assignments

Based on what you have learned so far this week, create a educational presentation with detailed notes and recorded audio comments for all content slides that addresses each of the following points/questions. Be sure to completely answer all the questions. Use clear headings that allow your professor to know which bullet you are addressing on the slides in your presentation. Support your content with at least four (4) citations throughout your presentation. Make sure to reference the citations using the APA writing style for the presentation. Include a slide for your references at the end. Follow best practices for PowerPoint presentations (an example is located in the Resources tab) related to text size, color, images, effects, wordiness, and multimedia enhancements.  Use the audio recording feature with the PowerPoint. Alternatively, you may use a smartphone or tablet to record yourself speaking, should you be unable to use the audio feature within PowerPoint.

Title Slide (1 slide)

The various kinds of health professionals are educated in separate schools but with considerable overlap in curricula and training requirements. They are, however, expected to integrate their training and work together after graduation. Identify the advantages and disadvantages of this approach to professional education in terms of costs, educational efficiency, and patient care quality.(4 slides).

An oversupply of physicians in many urban regions contrasts with continuing problems of access in rural and inner-city areas. Why does the mal-distribution of physicians persist in spite of the number of physicians graduated? (2-3 slides)

The health care delivery system now places increased emphasis on maintaining wellness and on promoting disease avoidance through healthy behaviors and lifestyles. What challenges does this new orientation pose for our existing system of medical education and training? (2-3 slides)

References (1 slide)

 

N502 Health Care Systems

Unit 5 Assignment

Compare and contrast each of the three questions related to Managed Care Organizations, Medicare, and Medicaid with one another and explain how they were similar and different to each other.

Managed care organizations emphasize physicians' responsibilities to control patient access to expensive hospitalization and specialty care, a principle dubbed "gatekeeping." Some argue that "gatekeeping" is unethical because it introduces financial factors into treatment decisions. Others say it improves quality by promoting the use of the most appropriate levels of care.

Medicare is an area that often gets overlooked and is seen as a burden financially. Discuss alternatives to ease the drain on Medicare resources.

Medicaid is shouldering an ever-increasing burden of cost for long-term care for the elderly, with enormous impacts on state budgets throughout the nation. Discuss alternatives to ease this drain on Medicaid resources.

Please submit one APA formatted table, (minimum 750 words) that highlights the above content make sure to include a title and reference page. The assignment should have a minimum of two scholarly sources, in addition to the textbook.

 

N502 Health Care Systems

Unit 6 Assignment

Professional Development Assignments:

Public health efforts and those of private medicine complement each other and together serve the spectrum of health service needs of American society. Why, then, has their relationship been so contentious?

The Institute of Medicine report of 1999 cites two major studies that establish medical errors as one of the leading causes of death and disability in the United States. Should the federal government take the necessary steps to monitor the status of this high-risk situation, as it does with other epidemics, or should the government continue to trust the providers of health care to deal forthrightly with the problem?

Analyze why legislative attempts to address only one of the trio of rising costs, lack of universal access, or variable quality of health care only worsens the remaining two.

Please submit one APA formatted paper between 1000 - 1500 words, not including the title and reference page. The assignment should have a minimum of two scholarly sources, in addition to the textbook.

 

 

 

 

 

 

N502 Health Care Systems

Unit 7 Assignment

Definitions of the quality of medical care are no longer left to clinicians who decide for themselves what technical performance constitutes "good care." What are the other dimensions of quality care and why are they important? What has changed since the days when "doctor knows best?"

Quality in medical care may be defined as achieving the greatest benefit at the lowest risk. How have the priorities of our health care system and the allocation of resources addressed this goal?

Contrast the definitions of implicit and explicit criteria in assessing health care quality. How is each type of criterion useful in quality assessment?

Please submit one APA formatted paper between 1000 - 1500 words, not including the title and reference page. The assignment should have a minimum of two scholarly sources, in addition to the textbook.

 

N502 Health Care Systems

Unit 8 Signature Assignment

Signature Assignment: Improving Health Care Delivery

Presentation:

Among various stakeholders, the registered nurse is an advocate for patients, their health and the care delivered to them. There is a need to evaluate the health status of vulnerable populations, to assess nursing’s role in health initiatives, and to find ways that we can help improve health. This presentation enables students to assess the role of organized efforts to influence health care delivery, and the contributions of medical technology, research findings, and societal values on our evolving health care delivery system.

This presentation will examine the role of the nurse as a health professional and leader.

Choose a high-risk risk population

Address a health care need for this population

What resources are provided for this population

What are the economic priorities, challenges, and issues for this population

What are the major ethical, societal, professional, and legal system-level issues confronting providers, insurers, public policymakers, and organizations regarding the care for this population

How could nursing intervene or advocate to improve the health care delivery for this population

This PowerPoint® (Microsoft Office) or Impress® (Open Office) presentation should be a minimum of 20 slides (maximum of 30 slides), including a title, introduction, conclusion and reference slide, with detailed speaker notes and recorded audio comments for all content slides. Use the audio recording feature with the presentation software. Use at least four scholarly sources and make certain to review the module’s Signature Assignment Rubric before starting your presentation. This presentation is worth 400 points for quality content and presentation.

 

 

N502 Health Care Systems

Unit 1 Discussion

With so many different stakeholders in the health care system, many with powerful political lobbies, it is understandable that the government has been unable, until the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, to effectively address the problems of cost, access, and quality. Despite this recent legislature, employers and the public have deep concerns about the ever-increasing costs of health care. Physicians, hospitals and other providers continue to voice displeasure with managed health plans’ requirements and restrictions, while employers and the insured are railing against potential huge premium increases. Should government continue to take an aggressive role in reshaping the health care system or should the economy be allowed to continue exerting market-driven reforms? Please take a stance of either pro-government or pro-free enterprise factions and explain how the public will fare in each situation. How are the problems of cost, access, and quality likely to be addressed in each circumstance?

OR

The practice of medicine, long valued for individual entrepreneurship and physician control, has undergone dramatic change. Physicians now face vexing oversight of case and utilization management and loss of control over the allocation of health care dollars. Managed care organizations control health costs by arbitrarily refusing reimbursement for certain medical procedures and reducing payments for others. Since medicine is now a less attractive career option, will fewer high performing individuals choose to become physicians? What are the implications for the quality of care?

 

N502 Health Care Systems

Unit 2 Discussion

As nursing has become increasingly “professionalized” through advanced degrees, specialization, and clinical practice, nurses’ salaries and responsibilities have also increased. Now, hospitals substitute non-nurses for nurses to perform all but the most technical tasks. What are the implications for the nursing profession? Have nurses lost their traditional role of hands-on patient care and, if so, is that to the profession’s and the patients’ advantage or disadvantage?

OR

With significant oversupply of hospital beds in the United States, what is the rationale for taxpayer support of the separate and costly hospital system of the Department of Veterans Affairs?

 

N502 Health Care Systems

Unit 3 Discussion

Ideally, our long term care system would provide a seamless continuum of services which are accessible and affordable for all older adults, with the goal of enabling them to remain in the community for as long as possible. These “aging in place” programs (PACE and NORCs) provide such a model. Given what you now know about the components of our health care delivery system and how they are administered, delivered and paid for:

Identify health care system barriers to achieving the seamless continuum

Identify social, family or other “non-system” barriers.

Propose ways in which community organizations or the government might assist in overcoming the barriers you have identified.

OR

Hospital emergency departments continue to be used as a source of primary medical care by large numbers of the community’s medically underserved population. What are the implications of this practice for the patients, and on health care costs and quality of care? What would you propose as a means to change this situation?

 

N502 Health Care Systems

Unit 4 Discussion

In 1992, medical residency programs in the U.S. were described as "responsive principally to the service needs of hospitals, the interests of the medical specialty societies, the objectives of the residency program directors, and the career preferences of the medical students." In fact, there are so many more residency programs than can be filled by American medical school graduates, that an annual influx of foreign educated physicians has been required to satisfy the service needs of many hospitals. In addition, until recently, there has been no attempt to match America’s needs for various kinds of specialty and generalist physicians with the hospital-based training programs that were producing them. In light of these facts, pose an opinion on this question:

Few graduates of medical school choose primary care, and instead flock to specialties with greater pay and prestige. Since primary care is the basis for maintaining health and early diagnosis of potential health problems, who should be responsible for rectifying this misplaced emphasis of health care……. insurers…medical schools…the government…the AMA…others?

OR

In 1992, medical residency programs in the U.S. were described as "responsive principally to the service needs of hospitals, the interests of the medical specialty societies, the objectives of the residency program directors, and the career preferences of the medical students." In fact, there are so many more residency programs than can be filled by American medical school graduates, that an annual influx of foreign educated physicians has been required to satisfy the service needs of many hospitals. In addition, until recently, there has been no attempt to match America’s needs for various kinds of specialty and generalist physicians with the hospital-based training programs that were producing them. In light of these facts, pose an opinion on this question:

Since there are not enough American medical school graduates to fill the residencies of the smaller non-teaching hospitals, would not the employment of nurse practitioners, physician assistants, or young physicians starting practice be considered first, before recruiting foreign medical graduates?

 

N502 Health Care Systems

Unit 5 Discussion

Many consumer and health care advocacy initiatives are converging toward a mandate to provide public access to many types of information about managed care organization (MCO) performance, costs, and quality. In fact, employers in the many parts of the country who are the major purchasers of health insurance are now requiring MCOs to make “health plan performance data” available to subscribers to facilitate their choice of plans.

Discuss and provide the rationale for your opinion on providing data in areas such as patient outcomes, compliance with national standards for preventive and chronic care, and comparative costs to the public.

What obligation, if any, does an employer, and/or MCO have to educate subscribers in how to interpret performance data? At whose expense should such education be provided?

What are the possible benefits or disadvantages to making such performance data available to the public?

OR

Select ONE of the topics below and describe how it has affected the costs of health care in the US?

The health insurance industry

Advances in medical care technology

Changes in U.S. demographics

Government support for health care

Consumer expectations

 

N502 Health Care Systems

Unit 6 Discussion

After reading the WHO (2008) Copenhagen Conference document “Health systems, Health and Wealth: Assessing the Case for Investing in Health Systems”, consider the following dilemma. Health policy-makers have been under enormous pressure in recent years over concerns about financial sustainability and cost-containment. The resources available to any society are finite, but emerging evidence is recasting health systems not as a drain on those resources but as an opportunity to invest in the health of the population and in economic growth. Health systems, health and wealth are inextricably linked in a set of mutually reinforcing and dynamic relationships. This new paradigm offers an opportunity for a fundamental reassessment of the role of health systems in society. Please expound upon these three questions:

How can we improve health, wealth and societal well-being by investing in health systems?

How can we ensure that health systems are sustained in the future?

How can we monitor, manage and improve performance so that health systems are as effective and efficient as possible?

OR

It is unfortunate that it requires a new threat or epidemic to halt the demise of organized public health and restore an effective public health structure. Why does public health have so much difficulty maintaining governmental support of its central role in maintaining the health and well-being of the American people?

 

 

 

 

N502 Health Care Systems

Unit 7 Discussion

For many years, hospital accreditation bodies assumed that if the structural criteria were met, that is, that the physical plant, the qualifications of the staff, and the necessary equipment were in place, the quality of the services would automatically be acceptable. Subsequently, accreditation groups decided that they had also better look at the medical records to see how the services were being provided. They assumed that, if the necessary structure was in place, and the required services were delivered as prescribed, the quality of care would be acceptable. Now, these same accrediting groups find it necessary to look at the outcomes of care as well.

Describe "structure, process, and outcome" in the assessment of the quality of medical care, and provide examples of each dimension.

How are the three dimensions related?

Can these relationships be trusted to assure the quality of care in the complex, high-tech world of modern medicine? If not, why?

OR

Hippocrates, who admonished physicians to “first, do no harm,” also stated, “in abundance, there is lack.” Interpret the latter in regard to American health care.

 

N502 Health Care Systems

Unit 8 Discussion

Please reflect upon this dilemma: How should this country address the problem of the approximately 47 million uninsured or underinsured Americans?

What is society's obligation to ensure access to a basic level of health care for all its citizens and how can it be accomplished?

Should health care be a basic individual right just as is education, police protection, and legal counsel? Why does the United States consider health care an open market commodity when all other developed countries guarantee their citizens some basic level of health care?

OR

The wisdom of depending on International Medical School Graduates (IMGs) to fill gaps in physician supply, while US medical schools hold class size constant, is questionable. In addition, the aging of the physician workforce, the decreasing hours worked by both physicians in practice and physicians in residency, and a 20 percent reduction in the effort of the increasing proportion of female physicians, will result in a significant decrease in the “effective” supply of physicians. Should the gap be filled by a major substitution of nurse practitioners, physician assistants, chiropractors, acupuncturists, and others, or are there alternatives?