Monthly Archives: March 2023

Over the past several decades, health care and information technology have undergone a period of dramatic change caused by a multitude of pressures and opportunities, many of which continue to persist and evolve. More recently, we have started to leverage the power of health care information technology to improve patient outcomes and to better engage patients in taking ownership of the health care processes. In addition, we have started to see a shift in health care reimbursement tied more toward patient outcomes than that of services actually rendered.

Case Assignment

Read and review the assigned reading for this module to familiarize yourself with health care information systems and how they are used to improve patient outcomes (health outcomes). In addition, conduct some additional research on how health care systems are used to improve patient care. Write a 2- to 4-page paper (excluding title page and reference page) discussing how health care systems are used to improve patient care. Make sure to describe how health care information systems and applications can help improve patient outcomes and provide examples. Include reference to literature, expert opinion, and case examples from your research involving various health care disciplines to support your position, key points, and explanations.

Assignment Expectations

1. A 2- to 4-page, double-spaced paper discussing how health care information systems can improve patient outcomes. The length does not include the title page and reference page.
2. A well-formulated introduction and conclusion that support the paper.
3. A title page and supporting reference page.
4. Your references and citations should be consistent with a particular formatting style, such as APA.
5. Provide references from at least 3 scholarly articles (peer-reviewed). Do not include information from non-scholarly materials such as wikis, encyclopedias, or www.freearticles.com (or similar websites). Use the following link for additional information on how to recognize peer-reviewed journals: http://www.angelo.edu/services/library/handouts/peerrev.php.
6. For additional information on reliability of sources, review the following source:
   Georgetown University Library. (n.d.). Evaluating internet resources. Retrieved from https://www.library.georgetown.edu/tutorials/research-guides/evaluating-internet-content
7. Your response should incorporate the outcomes of the module with the requirements of this assignment and will be graded according to the rubric.

Introduction:

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (generally referred to as the Affordable Care Act, or ACA) is the most monumental piece of U.S. federal health policymaking in nearly 50 years. It reorders not only many aspects of the health insurance and healthcare delivery systems but also long-standing relationships that underpin those systems. Yet beyond the sheer scope and content of the ACA and the policy trade-offs that led to its passage lies another story: its implementation and subsequent effect on the lives of tens of millions of Americans. In addition, there no doubt will be legal rulings in state and federal courts across the country that will alter the trajectory of the law and its implementation. (Teitelbaum & Wilensky, 2017, p. 169)

When President Barack Obama introduced the Affordable Health Care Act (ACA), several states banded together to challenge its constitutionality. On January 31, 2011, a federal judge ruled parts of the act unconstitutional. Obama’s law team formally appealed the decision in Florida et al. v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services et al. Access the appeal and read pages 55–67 (starting with section B. Congress’s Power under the Spending Clause). (ATTACHED)

For this case study assignment, review the aforementioned pages of the court case, and ensure you address the following items:

1) the key components of the ACA and the impact of the ongoing legal implementation issues on public health,

2) the barriers to the implementation of the ACA relating to the legal aspects in question,

3) the argument for appeal presented by President Obama’s team,

4) the negative implications of the legal aspects in this case on public health research and practice and recommended actions to address the identified challenges, and

5) strategies that can be taken by public health stakeholders and leaders to transform public health research findings into practice.

Your case study must be a minimum of three pages not counting title and reference pages, which are required. You must use the aforementioned court case and your course textbook as your source material for your case study.

                                                 Course Textbook

Teitelbaum, J. B., & Wilensky, S. E. (2017). Essentials of health policy and law (3rd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Exercise I: Settings

There are three outcomes for the first meeting between a case manager and a person or applicant who wants or needs services: 

(1) the applicant feels free to express him- or herself; 

(2) the applicant leaves confident of being able to work with the case manager toward a satisfactory solution; 

(3) rapport is established between the two participants.

Clearly this first meeting or initial intake interview is important to the assessment phase and establishes a beginning tone to the case management process. The following two questions will help you think about how to prepare for the intake interview:

1. List the factors that you think would be important for this initial meeting regardless of setting.
2. If you work in an agency and potential clients come to your office, describe how you would arrange your office to facilitate the initial meeting or intake interview.

An intake interview can take place anywhere. For each of the following locations and potential clients, describe how you would structure or arrange the setting in order to most effectively interview the individual(s) who needs or desires services. Use the factors you describe in Question 1 to guide your answers.

• A homeless person living on the streets who agrees to meet you at a fast-food restaurant
• A teenager who lives in a group home where you will meet her after school
• A single mother who invites you to her apartment in the proje

Please read and respond to the attachment(s).

Note: Only up to 20% of the written response content can be quotes from third parties.

Topic 1: Chapter 13: “Case Analysis – Competitiveness of Benefits”

Regional Hospital, a 400-bed community hospital, was struggling with recruitment and retention issues. These issues were occurring in spite of area labor statistics that indicated that there was a sufficient supply of skilled healthcare workers to meet their needs.

Regional’s HR director undertook a comprehensive analysis of the recruitment and retention issues with the support of the board and senior management of the hospital. The HR director utilized information from a recent employee satisfaction survey and exit interviews. From those sources she learned the following:

• Current employees believed that Regional’s benefit program was not competitive in comparison to other hospitals and companies in the area.
• For the employees who voluntarily re-signed from Regional in the last 12 months, benefit issues were critical. They reported receiving employment offers that included: lower healthcare insurance premiums, employer-paid dental insurance, higher accruals on paid time off, and sign-on bonuses.
• Regional’s healthcare competitors were aware of Regional’s less-competitive benefits package and would aggressively recruit Regional employees, noting the differences when interviewing Regional employees.

Questions

1. Given the findings from the HR director, what additional benefits plans should be considered by Regional Hospital?

2. What would be the advantages and disadvantages to increasing the competitiveness of the benefits plan at Regional Hospital?

Evidence-based practice is integral to social work, as it often informs best practices. Competent social workers understand this connection in general and the ways it benefits clients in particular. For this Assignment, consider your informed opinion on the relationship between qualitative analysis and evidence-based practice.

Submit a 2-page paper that addresses the following:

• Choose two qualitative research studies from this week’s resources and analyze the relationship between qualitative analysis and evidence-based practice.
• Consider how the qualitative study contributes to social work practice and how this type of knowledge would fit into building evidence-based practice.

Conflict between employees or between employee and supervisor exists in many organizations.  What role does communication play in workplace conflict and what are some strategies for reducing conflict?  Your textbook and the Penn Foster online library are a good starting point.  Also the following sites are good reference sources for articles related to the topic: www.shrm.org/hrmagazine and www.findarticles.com.  In order to use the “FindArticles” site you will need to register. You can search thousands of free articles.

Moral Philosophies and Cognitive Moral Development”  Please respond to the following:

• Select one (1) moral philosophy (teleology, deontology, relativist perspective, virtue ethics, or justice) that has influenced the outcome of an ethical dilemma that you have witnessed. Provide one (1) example of the way in which this moral philosophy influenced the outcome of an ethical dilemma in a past or present organization. Note: Please do not identify workplaces or leaders by name.
• Examine Kohlberg’s stages of moral development. Determine the stage of Kohlberg’s moral development that your current, or past, organization and coworkers are in. Provide one (1) example of your current, or past, organization and coworkers that illustrates the stage of Kohlberg’s moral development. Note: Please do not identify workplaces or leaders by name.

Please read the instructions

Instructions

You have assumed the head leadership position over a small department within a public sector agency. You have inherited a small but diverse team of employees. 

Your staff consists of the following individuals: 

Melanie has been with the organization for close to 10 years and spends much of her day surfing social media sites. She enjoys her job for the perceived job security and benefits but has little interest in pushing herself for additional monetary gain. When confronted about her social media use and lack of a desire to advance herself, she complains that she does not have anyone to “look up to” within the organization. 

Patrick is the most senior employee. Although he has an excellent record, he is going through a very difficult divorce and is only about one year away from retirement. He has become increasingly preoccupied with these matters. Regardless, having previously served in the military and having worked public service for his entire professional life, he expects much out of himself and has expressed a keen desire to involve himself with your managerial decision-making processes as soon as he is able to sort out some of his home issues. 

Tom, the newest employee, is fresh out of college. He is young and energetic, although not a week goes by where you do not catch him browsing salary surveys or private sector job listings; nevertheless, he is an overly productive employee, and he confides in you that he is worried that he is producing much more than his salary seems to reflect. He also questions the impact that the organization’s work and his own work, in particular, are actually having on anyone.

To complete this assignment, you will need address the components below. 

• Develop      a concise motivation profile on each of the staff members. 
• Correlate      motivational theories to this real-world scenario. 
• Summarize      leadership strategies related to such aspects as work life stages,      expected responses to rewards and punishments, and the degree to which      followers feel they fit the ideal motivation mold of public sector      employees. 
• Consider      how not being mindful of appropriate leadership strategies can be harmful      to organizations. 

Your case study findings and recommendations should consist of no less than two pages, be double spaced, and be written in 12-point Times New Roman font.