MMHA6300 Law, Ethics, and Policy
MMHA6300 Law, Ethics, and Policy
Seasonal Flu — The Debate Over Mandatory Vaccination or Mask
A vaccine is the most effective form of prevention. In the case of influenza, a vaccine can cut your risk of developing the disease by up to 90 percent, depending on a variety of factors, including the effectiveness of the vaccine that year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), and the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) recommend that all U.S. health care professionals get vaccinated annually against influenza.
Mandatory vaccination is a controversial strategy that pits health care professional and personal autonomy against patient/public safety and employee relations. Administrators planning to implement mandatory influenza vaccination policies for health care professionals must understand the implications involved in these policies.
To Prepare for This Discussion:
Review the peer-reviewed, professional journal articles and news article in this week’s Learning Resources, describing a dispute involving a health care facility’s mandatory vaccination or mask for seasonal flu. Select one of these articles for the Discussion, or find one of your own in a peer-reviewed journal or on the Internet. This dispute may involve an individual health care provider or facility.
MMHA6300 Law, Ethics, and Policy Week 2 Discussion
Conflict Between Employer Policy and Professional Code of Ethics
Assisted living facilities give older adults a sense of independence, even though these adults need help with daily activities. Typically, the staff at these facilities is available around the clock to assist residents. Because of the nature of assisted living facilities, staff and/or residents might become involved with helping someone in distress. Although this help is often necessary, it can involve complex challenges, including possible legal issues.
Good Samaritan doctrine is a legal principle that prevents a rescuer who has voluntarily helped a victim in distress from being sued for “wrongdoing.” Its purpose is to encourage people to help strangers in need without fear of legal repercussions should they make a mistake in treatment.
Good Samaritan laws vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and generally do not apply to medical professionals or career emergency responders while on the job. Some of these laws, however, extend protection to professional rescuers when they are acting in a volunteer capacity.
To Prepare for This Discussion:
Watch the CBS video, “911 Recording: Nurse Refuses to Give CPR to Dying Woman.” Analyze the Good Samaritan law in your state, and review the Tunson article in this week’s Learning Resources. As a health care administrator, analyze how Good Samaritan laws and health care laws and ethics apply to the situation in the CBS video. What are the conflicts? How does the professional code of ethics apply to this situation?
MMHA6300 Law, Ethics, and Policy Week 3 Discussion
Criminal Behavior by Health Care Providers
The United States federal government has created numerous programs to combat fraud and abuse in the health care industry. The government now encourages health care facilities to have a corporate compliance program, a plan that reduces the chances that the facility will violate laws or regulations. A corporate compliance program is an organization-wide program comprising a code of conduct and written policies, internal monitoring and auditing standards, employee training, feedback mechanisms, and other features, all designed to prevent and detect violations of governmental laws, regulations, and policies. It is a system or method ensuring that employees understand and comply with laws that apply to what they do every day.
To Prepare for This Discussion:
Conduct an online search to find a legal case, journal article, or detailed news article that describes a recent criminal case involving the kind of health care facility in which you are interested in working. The case you select may involve fraud or abuse (such as defrauding the Medicare or Medicaid programs, the Stark self-referral law, anti-kickback statute, or price-fixing) or other criminal act, such as patient abuse, murder, or theft. Evaluate the laws that are involved in your case, and consider the ramifications of this criminal action on the individuals and organizations involved.
A good source for cases is the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Consider looking through one or two state websites, which can be accessed at: /orders/www.namfcu.net/medicaid-fraud-control-units.php.
As you analyze your case and prepare for the Discussion, consider possible motivations behind this criminal act. What could an administrator do to prevent this from happening or to address it effectively once it is detected? Would a compliance program (see “Compliance 101” in this week’s Learning Resources) be of value in preventing or detecting and then correcting this criminal issue?
By Day 3
Post a cohesive response to the following:
Briefly describe the case you selected. Evaluate the state and/or federal laws that are involved in your case. (If you are an international student, evaluate the regional laws that are involved in your case.) Then explain the ramifications of this criminal action for the individuals and organizations involved (for example, states work with the federal government in capturing fraud).
Support your response by identifying and explaining key points and/or examples presented in the Learning Resources.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings. Consider how your colleagues’ postings relate to the information presented in the Learning Resources and to your own posting.
MMHA6300 Law, Ethics, and Policy Week 4 Discussion
Patient Autonomy or Surrogate Decision Maker?
Patients’ rights in the United States include the right to informed consent, which means that patients must receive adequate information to make medical decisions. However, many questions can arise if a patient appears to lack the capacity to understand his or her medical condition or options.
As a health care administrator, it is your responsibility to educate medical staff about your facility’s policy on obtaining informed consent, reflecting state law, and how to determine whether a patient is competent. It is essential to balance the moral needs of protecting the rights of the patient with the legal and ethical obligations to breach this confidentiality in certain select situations, or determine circumstances requiring a surrogate decision maker.
Medical staff should have no difficulty in following a patient’s wishes specific to health treatment when the patient is a competent adult who can articulate his or her wishes to the medical team. However, what if the medical team is unable to determine competency? How would the team assess mental competency to understand benefits and risks of the medical treatment? If the patient is not competent, how should the medical staff proceed?
To Prepare for This Discussion:
For this Discussion, view the Prompt Video titled “Incident in the ER: Scene 1,” located in this week’s Learning Resources. Then, reflect on the delivery of health care services demonstrated in the Prompt Video regarding determining competency. Reflect on the positive and negative aspects demonstrated and consider how health care administrators should consider these aspects when engaged in practice.
Using the Kaltura Video function as instructed in the left navigation bar, videotape yourself responding to the Challenge Video. Who decides on behalf of the patient if the patient is determined to lack competency? How should a surrogate decision maker proceed on behalf of a patient? How can a healthcare administrator ensure that the patient’s autonomy is ensured and competency is established? How do the facility’s standards and regulations affect how competency is determined?
By Day 3
Post a cohesive response to the following:
Upload your video response to the scenario to the Assignment link. The Discussion Forum will then become available. Post the same video response to the Discussion so your colleagues can view it. Please refer to the following instructions for posting the video response in the Discussion area:
If you have previously uploaded the desired video to Blackboard, there is no need to upload the video again.
From the Mashup Tool, select Kaltura Media. You will then see a list of media that you have previously uploaded to Blackboard. The video that you submitted to the Assignment link should be listed at the top.
Click the Select button that corresponds to the desired video.
Click the Submit button on the confirmation screen to add your video to your post.
Add additional text if desired and then submit the post.
Support your response by identifying and explaining key points and/or examples presented in the Learning Resources.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings. Consider how your colleagues’ postings relate to the information presented in the Learning Resources and to your own posting.
MMHA6300 Law, Ethics, and Policy Week 5 Discussion
Advance Directive — Interview
The term advance directive refers to several different types of legal documents that may be used by a patient, while competent, to record future wishes in the event the patient lacks decision-making capacity. The choice and meaning of specific advance directive terminology depends on state law. An advance directive or health care directive may combine the functions of a living will and durable power of attorney for health care into one document in one state, but may be equivalent to a living will in another state.
Through advance directives, individuals can communicate to family members and health care providers what treatment options they find acceptable or unacceptable should they become unable to make these decisions later on. As useful as these documents are, they are not always well understood by the public.
For this Discussion, you will interview someone who has not yet completed an advance directive regarding end-of-life planning. Be prepared to explain the purpose and benefit of an advance directive document. You can find your own state’s laws by going to the CaringInfo website listed in the Learning Resources.
To Prepare for This Discussion:
Review the description of advance directives in this week’s Learning Resources.
Download and print an advance directive form that is valid in your state. A link to these forms is available at: http://www.caringinfo.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3289.
Identify an individual you can interview in person about advance directives. This may be a friend, family member, or other acquaintance that has not yet completed an advance directive form.
Sit down with this person, and invite him or her to read the form and consider completing it. It does not matter whether the person actually does so or not. Take notes on any questions the person asks, whether he or she understands the purpose of the form, whether the person thinks the form is a useful way of dealing with future health care issues, and other key points and concerns expressed during the interview.
By Day 3
Post a cohesive response to the following:
Analyze the ways in which an advance directive might support a patient’s legal and ethical rights. Considering the interview you conducted, describe any questions, comments, or concerns your interviewee expressed regarding how an advance directive supports their legal and ethical rights.
Then, evaluate the impact an advance directive might have on end-of-life care from the perspective of health care providers and organizations. Apply ACHE policy for end-of-life planning for patients.
Support your response by identifying and explaining key points and/or examples presented in the Learning Resources. Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings. Consider how your colleagues’ postings relate to the information presented in the Learning Resources and to your own posting.
MMHA6300 Law, Ethics, and Policy Week 6 Discussion
Future Trends in Health Care
Advanced technologies, particularly in the communications and health care industries, are emerging at an astounding rate. The projected trends related to advanced technologies offer patients direct medical information, monitoring of overall health status, and remote diagnosis and treatment, among a vast array of other services. Access to health care is actually being reinterpreted by technology. Although the benefits of this access are undeniable, the possible implications and ethical issues can be challenging to fully understand.
To Prepare for This Discussion:
Consider the technology trends and devices you explored in this week’s Learning Resources. Which of these trends interests you the most or do you think might have the most impact on health care service delivery and/or quality? What kinds of ethical issues might be connected with these trends?
By Day 3
Post a cohesive response to the following:
Evaluate one of the technology trends or devices you found most interesting in your readings. Identify the source in which you read about it and provide a link. Then, analyze at least two ethical issues you believe might be connected with or result from this trend.
Support your response by identifying and explaining key points and/or examples presented in the Learning Resources.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings. Consider how your colleagues’ postings relate to the information presented in the Learning Resources and to your own posting.
MMHA6300 Law, Ethics, and Policy Week 7 Discussion
What Have We Learned About the PPACA Since It Was Implemented?
In 2015, the PPACA will achieve its 5-year milestone. Since the inception of PPACA, many changes have occurred in the way health care is delivered and purchased by consumers. This week gives you an opportunity for introspective analysis. How well is the PPACA actually working? Is it meeting public expectations? Compare what the research literature says with your own experiences and observations. This should form the basis for your Discussion, with a focus on what has been achieved to date and what can still be improved.
To Prepare for This Discussion:
Read the Levitt article on how well the PPACA is working, as well as articles in this week’s Learning Resources regarding the PPACA. Consider whether or not you agree with the Levitt article, and why. As Levitt asserts, there are always differences of opinion about the law and policy issues. Consider each point discussed by Levitt, including easy online access for people to get information about health insurance options, making insurance more accessible and affordable, and reducing the number of Americans who are uninsured.
By Day 3
Post a cohesive response to the following:
Provide an evaluation (or assessment) of whether or not you agree with Levitt, the author of the article, making sure to address the specific points he outlines, including the online process for obtaining health care information, accessibility, affordability, and reducing the number of uninsured. Support your position by utilizing a minimum of two peer-reviewed resources from the academic literature.
Support your response by identifying and explaining key points and/or examples presented in the Learning Resources.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings. Consider how your colleagues’ postings relate to the information presented in the Learning Resources and to your own posting
MMHA6300 Law, Ethics, and Policy Week 8 Discussion
What Drives Health Care Costs?
In this week’s Discussion, you will focus on practical solutions to reducing health care costs while improving quality and access. Because health care in the United States is a business, it is imperative that health care administrators understand that providing safe, quality health care services under budget is one of the single most important performance metrics that they can benchmark for success.
To Prepare for This Discussion:
Choose a health care policy issue in your workplace or community related to cost, quality, or access. You may wish to explore the literature and health care policy websites to ascertain what is working and what might work in your workplace or community.
Note: Take a look at the CMS innovation website if you are interested in looking at some innovative models currently being tested: http://innovation.cms.gov/
By Day 3
Post a cohesive response to the following:
Provide an analysis of the health care policy issue you chose, making sure to address these specific points: describe the health care policy issue you selected; provide and explain the statistics depicting the issue; and explain how this issue relates to health care costs, quality, and access.
When possible, provide examples from your professional experiences to demonstrate cost concerns in your particular field, or use personal anecdotes/stories to illustrate some of the problems that exist.
Support your response by identifying and explaining key points and/or examples presented in the Learning Resources.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings. Consider how your colleagues’ postings relate to the information presented in the Learning Resources and to your own posting.
MMHA6300 Law, Ethics, and Policy Week 9 Discussion
Learning From State and Local Health Care Reform Efforts
Health care reform efforts are moving toward frameworks that reward providers for the quality of health care delivered rather than the current model, which is focused on quantity. This requires a realignment of how health care is currently reimbursed to providers. To help achieve better care, in 2015, the Obama administration created the Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network involving 2,800 payers, providers, employers, patients, states, and consumer groups to help achieve this goal, which is “to transform the nation’s health system to emphasize value over volume” (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 2015).
Note: To find current data on health care reform efforts, review the press release in the article, “Better, Smarter, Healthier: Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network Kick Off to Advance Value and Quality in Health Care.”
Considering what you read in this week’s Learning Resources, what insights can you gain from state and local health care reform efforts? Taking the perspective of a health care administrator, how do you think these efforts might inform health care policy reform at the federal level? Is it possible to translate local reform to larger federal reform?
By Day 3
Post a cohesive response to the following:
Describe two key lessons you can take away from state/local health care reform efforts. Explain how these lessons might inform health care policy changes taking place at the federal level, if at all. Next, explain one reform effort that is considered a benchmark at the local level that in some way reduces health care costs, improves quality, or increases access to health care. Provide the link to the article or website in your post.
Support your response by identifying and explaining key points and/or examples presented in the Learning Resources.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings. Consider how your colleagues’ postings relate to the information presented in the Learning Resources and to your own posting.
MMHA6300 Law, Ethics, and Policy Week 10 Discussion
Health Insurance Accessibility
Federal and state governments have spent millions of taxpayer dollars to create a website through which consumers can purchase health care insurance in the open market. The federal government operates healthcare.gov. Some states have opted not to utilize the federal government’s exchange and approach it on their own. This has proved to be a very costly and disastrous undertaking for some states, such as Maryland, whose situation was described in this week’s introduction.
Oregon also discovered that running its own exchange can be a risky and expensive business. “Although the state has spent an estimated $248 million to get the operation up and running, it never enrolled a single private insurance customer online” (La Ganga, 2014). Oregon claims that it was not a failure of policy; the problems were in the building of the website, making the program virtually inaccessible.
With all the money spent to create these health care exchanges, the question remains: do they really work? In your Discussion this week, you will explore this question.
To Prepare for This Discussion
Browse the California Health Insurance Exchange website, Covered California, in this week’s Learning Resources.
Consider that states are supposed to make these websites user-friendly and appropriate for a person who reads at the eighth-grade level (the typical U.S. public health standard). Reflect on your own experiences in accessing the state exchanges. It may also be helpful to get some additional feedback from friends or family members (not in the health care business) to ascertain their impressions of the websites you are evaluating. Consider the following:
The average American’s health care literacy; in other words, can they comprehend what they are reading on these sites to make an informed choice?
What are your impressions? Is the site user-friendly? Is it easily accessible?
What about support for people with disabilities?
As you evaluate California Health Insurance Exchange website, be sure to look at the “2015 Covered California Shop and Compare Tool” section of the site at: /orders/www.coveredca.com/shopandcompare/
By Day 3
Post a cohesive response to the following:
Explain whether you believe the California Health Insurance Exchange website is user-friendly and appropriate for the public health standard and why. Explain whether you think this website could be improved to help users select the best insurance options for them, and how.
Support your response by identifying and explaining key points and/or examples presented in the Learning Resources.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings. Consider how your colleagues’ postings relate to the information presented in the Learning Resources and to your own posting.
MMHA6300 Law, Ethics, and Policy Week 11 Discussion
Futurescan: Issues Affecting the Health Care System
This week’s readings touched on numerous issues affecting the health care industry now and in the future. Which of these issues has the potential to impact you either professionally or personally? Which of these issues are of particular concern and interest in your career as a health care administrator?
To Prepare for This Discussion:
This week, you examined the many potential issues and changes that can affect the health care system. Based on the knowledge you have gained throughout this course, consider what you think to be the most important or pertinent health care policy issue affecting the health care industry today. How might this issue improve health care costs? How might it transform the way health care is delivered? How might it change the way people access health care in the future? Think of an issue that has both current and future implications.
For example, in your Learning Resources this week, you read an article in Modern Healthcare, which outlines plans the CMS Innovation Center has for testing a next generation Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) model in 2016. In this model, “patients will be able to voluntarily enroll in accountable care and in exchange, have their co-pays reduced or eliminated for some services, such as primary-care visits” (Evans, 2015). This articles offers a good example of current trends affecting relevant health care issues such as cost and access to care.
By Day 3
Post a cohesive response to the following:
Based on insights you have gained throughout this course and the Learning Resources from this week, explain what you think is the most pertinent health care policy issue with the potential to transform the way health care is delivered. Make sure to include in your post the following:
Outline the policy in question with a brief history and background of the issue it addresses or does not address well.
Next, discuss the Stakeholders involved in this issue and the effects passing the policy (or changing/defeating the policy) may have on their outcomes and interests.
Outline the barriers to passing (or defeating) this policy and posit solutions as to how to overcome these barriers. These barriers may include insurance coverage, eligibility, or reimbursement.
Provide a rationale for implementation of a policy brief from a legal, ethical, and operational perspective. Be specific and provide examples.
Lastly, make recommendations (i.e., changes in policy, changes in delivery of care, changes in focus for legislation, changes in insurance coverages or reimbursement) for current and future practice.
Support your response by identifying and explaining key points and/or examples presented in the Learning Resources.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings. Consider how your colleagues’ postings relate to the information presented in the Learning Resources and to your own posting.
By Day 5
Respond to at least two of your colleagues’ postings and continue the Discussion through Day 7. Expand on the Discussion by explaining how the health care policy issue identified by your colleague might influence or impact your work as a health care administrator, manager, or leader. Then explain how your understanding of legal, ethical, and policy issues might influence your decision making as a health care administrator, manager, or leader.
Seasonal Flu — The Debate Over Mandatory Vaccination or Mask
A vaccine is the most effective form of prevention. In the case of influenza, a vaccine can cut your risk of developing the disease by up to 90 percent, depending on a variety of factors, including the effectiveness of the vaccine that year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), and the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) recommend that all U.S. health care professionals get vaccinated annually against influenza.
Mandatory vaccination is a controversial strategy that pits health care professional and personal autonomy against patient/public safety and employee relations. Administrators planning to implement mandatory influenza vaccination policies for health care professionals must understand the implications involved in these policies.
To Prepare for This Discussion:
Review the peer-reviewed, professional journal articles and news article in this week’s Learning Resources, describing a dispute involving a health care facility’s mandatory vaccination or mask for seasonal flu. Select one of these articles for the Discussion, or find one of your own in a peer-reviewed journal or on the Internet. This dispute may involve an individual health care provider or facility.
MMHA6300 Law, Ethics, and Policy Week 2 Discussion
Conflict Between Employer Policy and Professional Code of Ethics
Assisted living facilities give older adults a sense of independence, even though these adults need help with daily activities. Typically, the staff at these facilities is available around the clock to assist residents. Because of the nature of assisted living facilities, staff and/or residents might become involved with helping someone in distress. Although this help is often necessary, it can involve complex challenges, including possible legal issues.
Good Samaritan doctrine is a legal principle that prevents a rescuer who has voluntarily helped a victim in distress from being sued for “wrongdoing.” Its purpose is to encourage people to help strangers in need without fear of legal repercussions should they make a mistake in treatment.
Good Samaritan laws vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and generally do not apply to medical professionals or career emergency responders while on the job. Some of these laws, however, extend protection to professional rescuers when they are acting in a volunteer capacity.
To Prepare for This Discussion:
Watch the CBS video, “911 Recording: Nurse Refuses to Give CPR to Dying Woman.” Analyze the Good Samaritan law in your state, and review the Tunson article in this week’s Learning Resources. As a health care administrator, analyze how Good Samaritan laws and health care laws and ethics apply to the situation in the CBS video. What are the conflicts? How does the professional code of ethics apply to this situation?
MMHA6300 Law, Ethics, and Policy Week 3 Discussion
Criminal Behavior by Health Care Providers
The United States federal government has created numerous programs to combat fraud and abuse in the health care industry. The government now encourages health care facilities to have a corporate compliance program, a plan that reduces the chances that the facility will violate laws or regulations. A corporate compliance program is an organization-wide program comprising a code of conduct and written policies, internal monitoring and auditing standards, employee training, feedback mechanisms, and other features, all designed to prevent and detect violations of governmental laws, regulations, and policies. It is a system or method ensuring that employees understand and comply with laws that apply to what they do every day.
To Prepare for This Discussion:
Conduct an online search to find a legal case, journal article, or detailed news article that describes a recent criminal case involving the kind of health care facility in which you are interested in working. The case you select may involve fraud or abuse (such as defrauding the Medicare or Medicaid programs, the Stark self-referral law, anti-kickback statute, or price-fixing) or other criminal act, such as patient abuse, murder, or theft. Evaluate the laws that are involved in your case, and consider the ramifications of this criminal action on the individuals and organizations involved.
A good source for cases is the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Consider looking through one or two state websites, which can be accessed at: /orders/www.namfcu.net/medicaid-fraud-control-units.php.
As you analyze your case and prepare for the Discussion, consider possible motivations behind this criminal act. What could an administrator do to prevent this from happening or to address it effectively once it is detected? Would a compliance program (see “Compliance 101” in this week’s Learning Resources) be of value in preventing or detecting and then correcting this criminal issue?
By Day 3
Post a cohesive response to the following:
Briefly describe the case you selected. Evaluate the state and/or federal laws that are involved in your case. (If you are an international student, evaluate the regional laws that are involved in your case.) Then explain the ramifications of this criminal action for the individuals and organizations involved (for example, states work with the federal government in capturing fraud).
Support your response by identifying and explaining key points and/or examples presented in the Learning Resources.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings. Consider how your colleagues’ postings relate to the information presented in the Learning Resources and to your own posting.
MMHA6300 Law, Ethics, and Policy Week 4 Discussion
Patient Autonomy or Surrogate Decision Maker?
Patients’ rights in the United States include the right to informed consent, which means that patients must receive adequate information to make medical decisions. However, many questions can arise if a patient appears to lack the capacity to understand his or her medical condition or options.
As a health care administrator, it is your responsibility to educate medical staff about your facility’s policy on obtaining informed consent, reflecting state law, and how to determine whether a patient is competent. It is essential to balance the moral needs of protecting the rights of the patient with the legal and ethical obligations to breach this confidentiality in certain select situations, or determine circumstances requiring a surrogate decision maker.
Medical staff should have no difficulty in following a patient’s wishes specific to health treatment when the patient is a competent adult who can articulate his or her wishes to the medical team. However, what if the medical team is unable to determine competency? How would the team assess mental competency to understand benefits and risks of the medical treatment? If the patient is not competent, how should the medical staff proceed?
To Prepare for This Discussion:
For this Discussion, view the Prompt Video titled “Incident in the ER: Scene 1,” located in this week’s Learning Resources. Then, reflect on the delivery of health care services demonstrated in the Prompt Video regarding determining competency. Reflect on the positive and negative aspects demonstrated and consider how health care administrators should consider these aspects when engaged in practice.
Using the Kaltura Video function as instructed in the left navigation bar, videotape yourself responding to the Challenge Video. Who decides on behalf of the patient if the patient is determined to lack competency? How should a surrogate decision maker proceed on behalf of a patient? How can a healthcare administrator ensure that the patient’s autonomy is ensured and competency is established? How do the facility’s standards and regulations affect how competency is determined?
By Day 3
Post a cohesive response to the following:
Upload your video response to the scenario to the Assignment link. The Discussion Forum will then become available. Post the same video response to the Discussion so your colleagues can view it. Please refer to the following instructions for posting the video response in the Discussion area:
If you have previously uploaded the desired video to Blackboard, there is no need to upload the video again.
From the Mashup Tool, select Kaltura Media. You will then see a list of media that you have previously uploaded to Blackboard. The video that you submitted to the Assignment link should be listed at the top.
Click the Select button that corresponds to the desired video.
Click the Submit button on the confirmation screen to add your video to your post.
Add additional text if desired and then submit the post.
Support your response by identifying and explaining key points and/or examples presented in the Learning Resources.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings. Consider how your colleagues’ postings relate to the information presented in the Learning Resources and to your own posting.
MMHA6300 Law, Ethics, and Policy Week 5 Discussion
Advance Directive — Interview
The term advance directive refers to several different types of legal documents that may be used by a patient, while competent, to record future wishes in the event the patient lacks decision-making capacity. The choice and meaning of specific advance directive terminology depends on state law. An advance directive or health care directive may combine the functions of a living will and durable power of attorney for health care into one document in one state, but may be equivalent to a living will in another state.
Through advance directives, individuals can communicate to family members and health care providers what treatment options they find acceptable or unacceptable should they become unable to make these decisions later on. As useful as these documents are, they are not always well understood by the public.
For this Discussion, you will interview someone who has not yet completed an advance directive regarding end-of-life planning. Be prepared to explain the purpose and benefit of an advance directive document. You can find your own state’s laws by going to the CaringInfo website listed in the Learning Resources.
To Prepare for This Discussion:
Review the description of advance directives in this week’s Learning Resources.
Download and print an advance directive form that is valid in your state. A link to these forms is available at: http://www.caringinfo.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3289.
Identify an individual you can interview in person about advance directives. This may be a friend, family member, or other acquaintance that has not yet completed an advance directive form.
Sit down with this person, and invite him or her to read the form and consider completing it. It does not matter whether the person actually does so or not. Take notes on any questions the person asks, whether he or she understands the purpose of the form, whether the person thinks the form is a useful way of dealing with future health care issues, and other key points and concerns expressed during the interview.
By Day 3
Post a cohesive response to the following:
Analyze the ways in which an advance directive might support a patient’s legal and ethical rights. Considering the interview you conducted, describe any questions, comments, or concerns your interviewee expressed regarding how an advance directive supports their legal and ethical rights.
Then, evaluate the impact an advance directive might have on end-of-life care from the perspective of health care providers and organizations. Apply ACHE policy for end-of-life planning for patients.
Support your response by identifying and explaining key points and/or examples presented in the Learning Resources. Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings. Consider how your colleagues’ postings relate to the information presented in the Learning Resources and to your own posting.
MMHA6300 Law, Ethics, and Policy Week 6 Discussion
Future Trends in Health Care
Advanced technologies, particularly in the communications and health care industries, are emerging at an astounding rate. The projected trends related to advanced technologies offer patients direct medical information, monitoring of overall health status, and remote diagnosis and treatment, among a vast array of other services. Access to health care is actually being reinterpreted by technology. Although the benefits of this access are undeniable, the possible implications and ethical issues can be challenging to fully understand.
To Prepare for This Discussion:
Consider the technology trends and devices you explored in this week’s Learning Resources. Which of these trends interests you the most or do you think might have the most impact on health care service delivery and/or quality? What kinds of ethical issues might be connected with these trends?
By Day 3
Post a cohesive response to the following:
Evaluate one of the technology trends or devices you found most interesting in your readings. Identify the source in which you read about it and provide a link. Then, analyze at least two ethical issues you believe might be connected with or result from this trend.
Support your response by identifying and explaining key points and/or examples presented in the Learning Resources.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings. Consider how your colleagues’ postings relate to the information presented in the Learning Resources and to your own posting.
MMHA6300 Law, Ethics, and Policy Week 7 Discussion
What Have We Learned About the PPACA Since It Was Implemented?
In 2015, the PPACA will achieve its 5-year milestone. Since the inception of PPACA, many changes have occurred in the way health care is delivered and purchased by consumers. This week gives you an opportunity for introspective analysis. How well is the PPACA actually working? Is it meeting public expectations? Compare what the research literature says with your own experiences and observations. This should form the basis for your Discussion, with a focus on what has been achieved to date and what can still be improved.
To Prepare for This Discussion:
Read the Levitt article on how well the PPACA is working, as well as articles in this week’s Learning Resources regarding the PPACA. Consider whether or not you agree with the Levitt article, and why. As Levitt asserts, there are always differences of opinion about the law and policy issues. Consider each point discussed by Levitt, including easy online access for people to get information about health insurance options, making insurance more accessible and affordable, and reducing the number of Americans who are uninsured.
By Day 3
Post a cohesive response to the following:
Provide an evaluation (or assessment) of whether or not you agree with Levitt, the author of the article, making sure to address the specific points he outlines, including the online process for obtaining health care information, accessibility, affordability, and reducing the number of uninsured. Support your position by utilizing a minimum of two peer-reviewed resources from the academic literature.
Support your response by identifying and explaining key points and/or examples presented in the Learning Resources.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings. Consider how your colleagues’ postings relate to the information presented in the Learning Resources and to your own posting
MMHA6300 Law, Ethics, and Policy Week 8 Discussion
What Drives Health Care Costs?
In this week’s Discussion, you will focus on practical solutions to reducing health care costs while improving quality and access. Because health care in the United States is a business, it is imperative that health care administrators understand that providing safe, quality health care services under budget is one of the single most important performance metrics that they can benchmark for success.
To Prepare for This Discussion:
Choose a health care policy issue in your workplace or community related to cost, quality, or access. You may wish to explore the literature and health care policy websites to ascertain what is working and what might work in your workplace or community.
Note: Take a look at the CMS innovation website if you are interested in looking at some innovative models currently being tested: http://innovation.cms.gov/
By Day 3
Post a cohesive response to the following:
Provide an analysis of the health care policy issue you chose, making sure to address these specific points: describe the health care policy issue you selected; provide and explain the statistics depicting the issue; and explain how this issue relates to health care costs, quality, and access.
When possible, provide examples from your professional experiences to demonstrate cost concerns in your particular field, or use personal anecdotes/stories to illustrate some of the problems that exist.
Support your response by identifying and explaining key points and/or examples presented in the Learning Resources.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings. Consider how your colleagues’ postings relate to the information presented in the Learning Resources and to your own posting.
MMHA6300 Law, Ethics, and Policy Week 9 Discussion
Learning From State and Local Health Care Reform Efforts
Health care reform efforts are moving toward frameworks that reward providers for the quality of health care delivered rather than the current model, which is focused on quantity. This requires a realignment of how health care is currently reimbursed to providers. To help achieve better care, in 2015, the Obama administration created the Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network involving 2,800 payers, providers, employers, patients, states, and consumer groups to help achieve this goal, which is “to transform the nation’s health system to emphasize value over volume” (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 2015).
Note: To find current data on health care reform efforts, review the press release in the article, “Better, Smarter, Healthier: Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network Kick Off to Advance Value and Quality in Health Care.”
Considering what you read in this week’s Learning Resources, what insights can you gain from state and local health care reform efforts? Taking the perspective of a health care administrator, how do you think these efforts might inform health care policy reform at the federal level? Is it possible to translate local reform to larger federal reform?
By Day 3
Post a cohesive response to the following:
Describe two key lessons you can take away from state/local health care reform efforts. Explain how these lessons might inform health care policy changes taking place at the federal level, if at all. Next, explain one reform effort that is considered a benchmark at the local level that in some way reduces health care costs, improves quality, or increases access to health care. Provide the link to the article or website in your post.
Support your response by identifying and explaining key points and/or examples presented in the Learning Resources.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings. Consider how your colleagues’ postings relate to the information presented in the Learning Resources and to your own posting.
MMHA6300 Law, Ethics, and Policy Week 10 Discussion
Health Insurance Accessibility
Federal and state governments have spent millions of taxpayer dollars to create a website through which consumers can purchase health care insurance in the open market. The federal government operates healthcare.gov. Some states have opted not to utilize the federal government’s exchange and approach it on their own. This has proved to be a very costly and disastrous undertaking for some states, such as Maryland, whose situation was described in this week’s introduction.
Oregon also discovered that running its own exchange can be a risky and expensive business. “Although the state has spent an estimated $248 million to get the operation up and running, it never enrolled a single private insurance customer online” (La Ganga, 2014). Oregon claims that it was not a failure of policy; the problems were in the building of the website, making the program virtually inaccessible.
With all the money spent to create these health care exchanges, the question remains: do they really work? In your Discussion this week, you will explore this question.
To Prepare for This Discussion
Browse the California Health Insurance Exchange website, Covered California, in this week’s Learning Resources.
Consider that states are supposed to make these websites user-friendly and appropriate for a person who reads at the eighth-grade level (the typical U.S. public health standard). Reflect on your own experiences in accessing the state exchanges. It may also be helpful to get some additional feedback from friends or family members (not in the health care business) to ascertain their impressions of the websites you are evaluating. Consider the following:
The average American’s health care literacy; in other words, can they comprehend what they are reading on these sites to make an informed choice?
What are your impressions? Is the site user-friendly? Is it easily accessible?
What about support for people with disabilities?
As you evaluate California Health Insurance Exchange website, be sure to look at the “2015 Covered California Shop and Compare Tool” section of the site at: /orders/www.coveredca.com/shopandcompare/
By Day 3
Post a cohesive response to the following:
Explain whether you believe the California Health Insurance Exchange website is user-friendly and appropriate for the public health standard and why. Explain whether you think this website could be improved to help users select the best insurance options for them, and how.
Support your response by identifying and explaining key points and/or examples presented in the Learning Resources.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings. Consider how your colleagues’ postings relate to the information presented in the Learning Resources and to your own posting.
MMHA6300 Law, Ethics, and Policy Week 11 Discussion
Futurescan: Issues Affecting the Health Care System
This week’s readings touched on numerous issues affecting the health care industry now and in the future. Which of these issues has the potential to impact you either professionally or personally? Which of these issues are of particular concern and interest in your career as a health care administrator?
To Prepare for This Discussion:
This week, you examined the many potential issues and changes that can affect the health care system. Based on the knowledge you have gained throughout this course, consider what you think to be the most important or pertinent health care policy issue affecting the health care industry today. How might this issue improve health care costs? How might it transform the way health care is delivered? How might it change the way people access health care in the future? Think of an issue that has both current and future implications.
For example, in your Learning Resources this week, you read an article in Modern Healthcare, which outlines plans the CMS Innovation Center has for testing a next generation Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) model in 2016. In this model, “patients will be able to voluntarily enroll in accountable care and in exchange, have their co-pays reduced or eliminated for some services, such as primary-care visits” (Evans, 2015). This articles offers a good example of current trends affecting relevant health care issues such as cost and access to care.
By Day 3
Post a cohesive response to the following:
Based on insights you have gained throughout this course and the Learning Resources from this week, explain what you think is the most pertinent health care policy issue with the potential to transform the way health care is delivered. Make sure to include in your post the following:
Outline the policy in question with a brief history and background of the issue it addresses or does not address well.
Next, discuss the Stakeholders involved in this issue and the effects passing the policy (or changing/defeating the policy) may have on their outcomes and interests.
Outline the barriers to passing (or defeating) this policy and posit solutions as to how to overcome these barriers. These barriers may include insurance coverage, eligibility, or reimbursement.
Provide a rationale for implementation of a policy brief from a legal, ethical, and operational perspective. Be specific and provide examples.
Lastly, make recommendations (i.e., changes in policy, changes in delivery of care, changes in focus for legislation, changes in insurance coverages or reimbursement) for current and future practice.
Support your response by identifying and explaining key points and/or examples presented in the Learning Resources.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings. Consider how your colleagues’ postings relate to the information presented in the Learning Resources and to your own posting.
By Day 5
Respond to at least two of your colleagues’ postings and continue the Discussion through Day 7. Expand on the Discussion by explaining how the health care policy issue identified by your colleague might influence or impact your work as a health care administrator, manager, or leader. Then explain how your understanding of legal, ethical, and policy issues might influence your decision making as a health care administrator, manager, or leader.
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ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS
Who We Are
We are a professional custom writing website. If you have searched for a question and bumped into our website just know you are in the right place to get help with your coursework.Do you handle any type of coursework?
Yes. We have posted our previous orders to display our experience. Since we have done this question before, we can also do it for you. To make sure we do it perfectly, please fill out our Order Form. Filling the order form correctly will assist our team in referencing, specifications, and future communication.Is it hard to Place an Order?
- 1. Click on “Order Now” on the main Menu and a new page will appear with an order form to be filled.
- 2. Fill in your paper’s requirements in the “PAPER INFORMATION” section and the system will calculate your order price/cost.
- 3. Fill in your paper’s academic level, deadline, and the required number of pages from the drop-down menus.
- 4. Click “FINAL STEP” to enter your registration details and get an account with us for record-keeping and then, click on “PROCEED TO CHECKOUT” at the bottom of the page.
- 5. From there, the payment sections will show, follow the guided payment process and your order will be available for our writing team to work on it.
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- Discussion Questions (DQ)
Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, including a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words. Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source. One or two-sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words. I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.
- Weekly Participation
Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately. In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies. Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work). Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.
- APA Format and Writing Quality
Familiarize yourself with the APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in Loud-cloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required). Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation. I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.
- Use of Direct Quotes
I discourage over-utilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Master’s level and deduct points accordingly. As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content. It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.
- LopesWrite Policy
For assignments that need to be submitted to Lopes Write, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me. Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes. Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own? Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in Loud-cloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.
- Late Policy
The university’s policy on late assignments is a 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies. Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances. If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect. I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension. As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.
- Communication
Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class. Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.
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