Assignment 3: Healthcare Quality
Due Week 6 and worth 200 points

Assume that  you are a Quality Officer who is responsible for one of the state’s  largest healthcare organizations. You have been told that the quality of  patient care has decreased, and you have been assigned a project that  is geared toward increasing quality of care for the patients. Your Chief  Executive Officer has requested a six to eight-page summary of your  recommended initiatives.

Note: You may create and /or make all necessary assumptions needed for the completion of this assignment.

Write a 6-8 page paper in which you:

1. Analyze three (3) quality initiatives for your organization.
2. Determine  the supporting factors that would aid in the reduction of healthcare  cost in your organization without reducing quality of care for the  patients.
3. Differentiate  between quality in a free market healthcare system and in single payer  government system with three (3) examples for each.
4. Specify three (3) common law quality initiatives that are still found in 21st century healthcare organizations.
5. Defend  your position on the importance of healthcare quality for your  organization. Provide support with at least three (3) examples that  illustrate your position.
6. Assemble a plan to protect patient information that complies with all legal requirements.
7. Use at least three (3) quality references. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic resources.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• This course requires use of new Strayer Writing Standards (SWS).  The format is different than other Strayer University courses. Please  take a moment to review the SWS documentation for details.
• Be typed,  double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch  margins on all sides; citations and references must follow SWS or  school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional  instructions.
• Include a  cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name,  the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and  the reference page are not included in the required assignment page  length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

• Describe the evolution of hospitals and sources of law.
• Examine tort law and the criminal aspects of health care.
• Analyze the impact of healthcare financing and health insurance on healthcare access, quality, and cost.
• Determine the factors that affect healthcare quality in healthcare organizations.
• Examine information management and health care records and how the legal reporting requirements impact health care. 
• Assess  the legal implications of ethical decisions that impact consent for  treatment, right-to-die, and patient rights and responsibilities.
• Use technology and information resources to research issues in healthcare policy, law, and ethics.
• Write clearly and concisely about healthcare policy and law using proper writing mechanics.

Click here to view the grading rubric. 

  

Obesity–a U.S. Public Health Hazard

Obesity is a dangerous medical condition which, left unchecked, may result in a variety of life-threatening chronic conditions, blindness, and amputation. 

So why is this disease so prevalent among U.S. adults and children?  Why should it be important to us, as public health educators, planners and evaluators?  What are the causes of the condition, and what can we as public health professionals do to impact the rising tide of obesity in our communities?  Our Utube videos, scheduled for Week 5, provide us with the answers to some of these questions.

There are obvious causes related to the development of Obesity–  genetics, a sedentary lifestyle, and poor eating/nutrition habits.  But let’s look a little closer at these causes in ProCon.org  

If we assume that Obesity is a disease, it could become a problem that may be overcome or made less debilitating by medical processes. And as such, treatment could become fully reimbursable under most medical insurance plans.  Consider the arguments made at Procon.org.   Do you think that Obesity is the result of fat people not being able to discipline themselves to eat less and exercise more, or is Obesity a serious state of health, which is truly a chronic disease in and of itself?  If overweight and Obese people are able to tap into their pre-existing health insurance plans to pay for taking off pounds, could this have an unintended consequence?  It is likely, given this scenario, that everyone’s health insurance would increase a lot–perhaps even double or triple for everyone, even for people who stay trim, watch their diet, and exercise regularly. See https://obesity.procon.org/   for ideas and opinions about obesity in the U.S..

 

The questions you need to answer for your Discussion:

1.  Is it fair that people who are careful about their BMI status and do not fall into categories of overweight or obese be required to pay increased premiums for their insurance to cover those employees who don’t watch their weight, eat to excess, and don’t exercise?   (Health insurance operates through shared risk principles–younger, healthier people pay for those who are usually older and sicker).   List three reasons why it would be fair–and three reasons why it wouldn’t be fair.  

2. The federal government (a.k.a. Mr. Trump’s policies) is currently attempting to slash Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement.  What effect is that likely to have on persons with low SES who have developed serious medical problems over time as a result of obesity and lack of exercise?   Three reasons why it would OK to slash benefits for Medicare and Medicaid–and three reasons why it wouldn’t be OK to slash benefits. 

Minimum of 50 words to answer each question.

 

• Type of paperCritical Thinking
• SubjectLatin-American Studies
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I don′t think the Chicano Movement was successful. We mainly used the book, From Indians to Chicanos, the assigned readings are on the syllabus in the attached files. I have the Ebook and can email you the pages tomorrow.

Important Info

The order was placed through short procedure (customer skipped some order details). Please clarify some paper details before tarting to work on the order.

• Type of paper and subject
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Respond to your classmates and explain if their analysis would be applicable to one of the other PACs described in the chapter.

The Four PACS (Post-Acute Care) 

1.Skilled nursing facilities (SNFs)

2.Long-term care hospitals (LTCHs)

3.Inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs)

4.Home health agencies (HHAs) (MedPAC 2017a, xvi)

Post #1 

Post-acute care facilities are meant to provide various rehabilitation services after an injur or illness. Most post-acute services are provided after discharge from an acute care facility. LTACHs or LTCHs are long term care hospitals that treat patients who require an extended hospital stay. These facilities treat the patients that need the extended stay and treatments but no longer require invasive or extensive diagnostic procedures. They no longer require intensive care. An LTCH is for the patient that still requires the clinical care. Like acute care hospitals, LTCH services are covered under Medicare part A. An average length of stay is 30 days. In fact, the minimum stay in 25 days in order to receive Medicare reimbursement (AHA, 2020). 

LTCHs are the compromised between acute care hospitals and skilled nursing facilities. Patients have the same access to a physician as they would in an acute care hospital and the benefit of receiving rehabilitative care. The focus of an LTCH is to provide extensive clinical patient care while moving the patient toward a normal lifestyle. When compared to other post-acute services, the LTCH can better meet the patient’s clinical needs. 

Reference:

American Hospital Association. 2020. Long term care hospital PPS. Retrieved from https://www.aha.org/advocacy/long-term-care-pps

Post #2

Home Health Agencies (HHA) play an extremely important part along the healthcare continuum. They provide nursing and therapy services within the patient’s home.  Like all PACs, HHAs are required to submit assessments, in this case the Outcome Assessment Information Set (OASIS). Information within the OASIS helps determine the payment level and include data to track quality outcomes.  Caring for patients with higher clinical needs and more service utilization will result in a higher reimbursement.  For Medicare and Medicare Advantage plan beneficiaries there is “no cost sharing for home health services, except for a 20 percent coinsurance for medical equipment” (Castro, 2018, p. 221).  Commercial plan coverage for home health services varies. According to Elflein (2019) most individuals receiving home care are over 65 years old.  Additionally, beneficiaries are eligible for an unlimited number of episodes of home care if eligibility requirements are met (Castro, 2018).  Considering the generous coverage, home care is very affordable to those who need it most.

Measuring quality for home health agencies is done using admission and discharge OASIS data comparison.  The agency monitors its own data through internal benchmarking to ensure they are achieving quality care through improved patient function.  The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) also tracks OASIS data for every one of its beneficiaries to ensure proper utilization and improved outcomes.  HHA can use external benchmarking through CMS to compare their quality scores with other HHAs.

References

Carecentrix. (2018, May 29). In-home care services to be covered by medicare advantage plans.

Castro, A.B. (2018). Principles of healthcare reimbursement (6th ed.). Chicago, IL: American Health Information Management Association

Elflein, J. (2019, July 11). Home care in the U.S.- Statistics & facts. Statista. https://www.statista.com/topics/4049/home-care-in-the-us/

Home Care Alliance. (n.d.). Who pays for home care? https://homecarealliance.org/locate-an-agency/consumer-resources/who-pays-for-home-care/

Data Sources. (n.d.). Home Health Compare. https://www.medicare.gov/HomeHealthCompare/Data/Data-Sources.html