NHS6008 Economics
and Decision Making in Health Care

Unit 1 Discussion DQ1 The Changing Health Care Economic Landscape

Think of recent changes in health care economics, such as
patient satisfaction scores and reimbursement, or universal health care
coverage. Then respond to the following:

How have these changes affected your current or desired role
and health care setting?

Briefly share with your fellow learners your suggestions for
improving the economic situation of your health care setting. You do not have
to provide an in-depth plan, but at least address:

How would you maximize its resources?

How might strategies or priorities need to shift to keep up
with the changing health care economic environment?

Post according to the Faculty Expectations Response
Guidelines. Remember to cite the readings, resources, and research that you
have used in the development of your post.

Response Guidelines

Respond to the posts of other learners according to the
Faculty Expectations Response Guidelines.

Do you see similar effects in your current or desired
workplace?

What differences do you see?

DQ2 Supply And Demand

Discuss the impact of supply and demand for the department
or service line in which you currently work, or would like to work.

Consider the following when writing your initial post
(Cooper & John, 2011, p. 688):

What factors determine the price and quantity of health
care?

In what sense is spending on health an investment?

What factors determine the demand for health care services?

How does demand drive the ability for or willingness of a
health care setting to provide a service line?

Post according to the Faculty Expectations Response
Guidelines. Remember to cite the readings, resources, and research that you
have used in the development of your post.

Response Guidelines

Respond to the posts of other learners according to the
Faculty Expectations Response Guidelines.

Do you see similar impacts in your department or service
line?

What differences do you see?

Compare and contrast your views on the link between demand
and the ability for a health care setting to provide a service line.

NHS6008 Economics
and Decision Making in Health Care

Unit 2
Discussion

DQ1 CMS Regulations

To complete this discussion:

Identify a scenario that would be impacted by Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regulations.

An example would be an unexpected complication during or
immediately after a patient’s hospitalization, which might have been prevented.

Discuss the economic impact of recent CMS regulations with respect
to documentation, billing, and reimbursement for services.

Additionally, address how these impacts affect your current
role, or the future role to which you are aspiring, in the health care
industry.

Post according to the Faculty Expectations Response
Guidelines. Remember to cite the readings, resources, and research that you
have used in the development of your post.

Response Guidelines

Respond to the posts of other learners according to the
Faculty Expectations Response Guidelines.

Offer additional economic impacts that you see in the
scenario your peer discussed.

How do you see the scenario that your peer discussed playing
out and impacting your practice and health care setting?

DQ2 Vila Health: A New Mobile Clinic

This discussion will be based upon the media simulation, Vila
Health: A New Mobile Clinic.

To complete this discussion please address the following:

Reflecting on the concerns of the various stakeholders,
which concern or concerns would be the most important to address in order for
the grant to be completed?

How would you go about addressing the concern or concerns
you identified?

After the grant funding was secured, which concern or
concerns would be the most important to address for the initial implementation
of the project?

How would you go about address the concern or concerns you
identified?

Which concern or concerns would be the most important to
address to ensure the mobile unit would be a sustainable project?

How would you go about addressing the concern or concerns
you identified?

Why is it important to consider the views, needs, and
concerns of stakeholder when developing a plan for a new economic opportunity?

Post according to the Faculty Expectations Response
Guidelines. Remember to cite the readings, resources, and research that you
have used in the development of your post.

Response Guidelines

Respond to the posts of other learners according to the
Faculty Expectations Response Guidelines.

In your response be sure to address one or more of the
following:

How did the concerns you identified as being most important
to address compare to those of your peer?

How did your approach to addressing the concerns of
stakeholders compare to that of your peer?

Do you have any further recommendations on strategies for
approaching stakeholder concerns that could help your peer?

NHS6008 Economics
and Decision Making in Health Care

Unit 3
Discussion

Reimbursement Recommendations

Given the topic you selected in the Unit 2 discussion, CMS
Regulations, complete the following:

Propose insights and recommendations to promote
reimbursement for services offered by the provider organization.

Discuss the implications for future supply and demand for
services provided.

Examples: A preventable fall results in non-payment to
provider; inaccurate coding or untimely claim submission results in payment
denial; or patient satisfaction scores deteriorate, and CMS denies payment for
provider services.

Post according to the Faculty Expectations Response
Guidelines. Remember to cite the readings, resources, and research that you
have used in the development of your post.

Response Guidelines

Respond to the posts of other learners according to the
Faculty Expectations Response Guidelines.

Offer additional insights and recommendations for promoting
reimbursement that you have observed or worked with from your own practice or
health care setting.

Offer additional implications of the current state of
reimbursement on future supply and demand within the scope of a health care
setting or health care practice role with which you are familiar.

NHS6008 Economics
and Decision Making in Health Care

Unit 4
Discussion

DQ1 Value Judgments and Economic Evaluation

Within the context of a community, organization, or health
care setting:

Identify a health care issue that is directly tied to an
economic decision and is related to the economic opportunity you proposed in
your Unit 3 assignment.

How does the use of a value judgment and evaluation of
resources affect this health care issue?

What is one economic alternative related to resource
management that could cause a positive change in this situation?

How will this decision impact the community and care
delivery resources?

Post according to the Faculty Expectations Response
Guidelines. Remember to cite the readings, resources, and research that you
have used in the development of your post.

Response Guidelines

Respond to the posts of other learners according to the
Faculty Expectations Response Guidelines.

What other value judgments and evaluation of resources may
be relevant to the health care issue that you peer wrote about?

How do these decisions affect care delivery in the
community?

Offer an additional economic alternative that could cause a
positive change in the situation your peer described.

DQ2 Economic Considerations

Think about what you found and wrote about for the first
discussion in this unit.

In two sentences, briefly summarize the economic alternative
that you presented in the first discussion of this unit.

What types of evaluation, both quantitative and qualitative,
might you develop to evaluate your alternative idea?

What outcome measure are you expecting, and why?

Post according to the Faculty Expectations Response
Guidelines. Remember to cite the readings, resources, and research that you have
used in the development of your post.

Response Guidelines

Respond to the posts of other learners according to the
Faculty Expectations Response Guidelines.

Which economic considerations do you think have the
strongest influence on the problem?

Refer your peer to one or more data sources that could help
them further develop or support their economic alternative.

NHS6008 Economics
and Decision Making in Health Care

Unit 5
Discussion

DQ1 Benefit Values

To complete this discussion:

Conduct research and determine benefits associated with the
economic opportunity that you proposed in your Unit 3 assignment.

Assign dollar values to each benefit.

Explain how you found or arrived at the assigned dollar
values.

Use the preformatted Cost-Benefit Analysis Template
spreadsheet, linked in the Resources.

Post according to the Faculty Expectations Response
Guidelines. Remember to cite the readings, resources, and research that you
have used in the development of your post.

Response Guidelines

Respond to the posts of other learners according to the
Faculty Expectations Response Guidelines.

How do the benefits associated with your peer’s proposed
initiative compare with yours?

Do you see any benefits that your peer might have missed?

Do you have alternative sources relevant to determining the
dollar value of one or more of your peer’s benefits?

DQ2 Cost-Benefit Analysis

In this discussion, you will build upon the economic
opportunity that you proposed in your Unit 3 assignment and use the information
you researched for you Benefits Values discussion post.

Analyze the costs and benefits over a five-year time horizon
for your economic opportunity.

Propose executive recommendations to proceed with or defer
the pursuit of the economic opportunity. Be sure to include a sound rationale.
This may incorporate regulations, industry standards, and best practices.

Use the preformatted Cost-Benefit Analysis Template
spreadsheet, linked in the Resources, to conduct your analysis.

Post according to the Faculty Expectations Response
Guidelines. Remember to cite the readings, resources, and research that you
have used in the development of your post.

Response Guidelines

Respond to the posts of other learners according to the
Faculty Expectations Response Guidelines.

If possible, select a learner who has not yet received a
response and evaluate their submission, highlighting both strengths and
weaknesses.

NHS6008 Economics
and Decision Making in Health Care

Unit 6
Discussion

Vila Health: Assessing Financial Risk

This discussion will be based upon the media simulation,
Vila Health: Assessing Financial Risk.

To complete this discussion please address the following:

Reflect on the various financial risks that were brought up
throughout the media simulation:

Which risks did you feel were the most vital to address?

Describe, in general, your preferred approach to
investigating and addressing the financial risks that were brought up.

Why did you take the approach that you did?

Why is it important to consider and address the financial
risks when planning and implementing a new service or project?

Post according to the Faculty Expectations Response
Guidelines. Remember to cite the readings, resources, and research that you
have used in the development of your post.

Response Guidelines

Respond to the posts of other learners according to the
Faculty Expectations Response Guidelines. In your response address one or more
of the following:

How did the risks you identified as being most important to
address compare to those of your peer?

How did your approach to addressing these risks compare to
that of your peer?

Do you have any further recommendations on strategies for
addressing financial risks that could be helpful to your peer?

NHS6008 Economics
and Decision Making in Health Care

Unit 7
Discussion

DQ1 Comparative Economic Analysis

To complete this discussion:

Briefly describe the five different types of comparative
economic analysis.

Provide an example of application for each within your
current or desired workplace.

Post according to the Faculty Expectations Response
Guidelines. Remember to cite the readings, resources, and research that you
have used in the development of your post.

Response Guidelines

Respond to the posts of other learners according to the
Faculty Expectations Response Guidelines.

How is the application of the various analyses different in
your workplace?

DQ2 Economic Valuation

To complete this discussion:

Discuss three of the following methods for valuation:

Human capital.

Risk preference.

Contingent valuation.

Cost-benefit ratio.

Analyze which method best fits a selected problem or issue
in your current or desired workplace.

Discuss why you think this method has the best fit.

Post according to the Faculty Expectations Response
Guidelines. Remember to cite the readings, resources, and research that you
have used in the development of your post.

Response Guidelines

Respond to the posts of other learners according to the
Faculty Expectations Response Guidelines.

What are the similarities and differences in the problem or
issue you selected?

Did you choose the same method for solving the problem? Why
or why not?

NHS6008 Economics
and Decision Making in Health Care

Unit 8
Discussion

DQ1 Initiative Financing

To complete this discussion:

Select an initiative or issue in your current or desired
workplace that requires economic evaluation.

Conduct research on human resources, equipment, technology,
and other resources required for the proposed initiative.

Formulate the costs associated with the proposed initiative.

Post according to the Faculty Expectations Response
Guidelines. Remember to cite the readings, resources, and research that you
have used in the development of your post.

Response Guidelines

Respond to the posts of other learners according to the
Faculty Expectations Response Guidelines.

How do the costs associated with his or her proposed
initiative compare with yours?

DQ2 Cost Shifting

To complete this discussion:

Research cost shifting and present a definition of this
practice in your own words.

Do you think that it is a fair practice or should it be
legally banned?

Why would a change in a hospital’s variable costs change the
hospital’s profit-maximizing price?

Post according to the Faculty Expectations Response
Guidelines. Remember to cite the readings, resources, and research that you
have used in the development of your post

Response Guidelines

Respond to the posts of other learners according to the
Faculty Expectations Response Guidelines.

Select a post that differs from your own, and have a
respectful debate in which you challenge your peer’s opinions. The goal of this
debate is to further define your own opinions, not to disrespect the opinions
of others.

NHS6008 Economics
and Decision Making in Health Care

Unit 9
Discussion

Ethics and Economic Decision Making

For this discussion:

Select one issue that deals with ethics and economic
decision making.

Provide an overview of leadership implications.

Suggest recommendations for addressing the issue along with
a framework or resource to promote ethical decision making.

Post according to the Faculty Expectations Response
Guidelines. Remember to cite the readings, resources, and research that you
have used in the development of your post.

Response Guidelines

Respond to the posts of other learners according to the
Faculty Expectations Response Guidelines.

Evaluate their recommendations.

Discuss two strengths of their recommendations.

Suggest one way in which their recommendations could be
improved.

NHS6008 Economics
and Decision Making in Health Care

Unit 10
Discussion

DQ1 Economics in Your Practice

For this discussion:

Discuss the highest-impact facet of health care economics
that relates to your current or desired leadership role.

What action steps and resources might you use to assure
objective and ethical economic decision making in that role?

Post according to the Faculty Expectations Response
Guidelines. Remember to cite the readings, resources, and research that you
have used in the development of your post.

Response Guidelines

Respond to the posts of other learners according to the
Faculty Expectations Response Guidelines.

What similarities and differences do you see between their
post and your own?

DQ2 Economics to Further Your Practice

For this discussion reflect upon the following:

How will the knowledge and skills related to economics that
you have acquired in this course help you to improve your personal efficacy in
practice, or make you better prepared to move into a desired practice position?

How has your view of your practice shifted as you have
learned more about the economics in the health care industry?

Post according to the Faculty Expectations Response
Guidelines. Remember to cite the readings, resources, and research that you
have used in the development of your post.

Response Guidelines

Respond to the posts of other learners according to the
Faculty Expectations Response Guidelines.

Compare and contrast your reflection to your peer’s.

NHS6008 Economics
and Decision Making in Health Care

Unit 3
Assignment

Executive Brief: Proposal of New Economic Opportunity

Professional Context

Master’s level health care practitioners are charged with
the responsibility of constantly scanning the external environment for shifts
in supply of and demand for services. Concurrently, leaders must examine
strategic fit with their organization’s directional strategy and determine if
adjustments need to be made for current service offerings, updates in
equipment, changes in staffing models, and a variety of other decisions. Each
decision that is proposed must be evaluated in terms of the health care setting
as a system, alignment with the mission and strategy, available internal
resources, potential contract and payer source implications, and the short- and
long-term economic effects at both the micro and macro levels.

Scenario

As an emerging health care leader, the senior management has
requested that you independently research and explore one of the economic
opportunities that may be available in your care setting. This may be offering
a new service line, working to improve a service line already offered, retiring
an outdated or unprofitable service line, or any other economic initiative that
you believe will be of benefit to your care setting in the short and long term.
One example of this is a recently launched partnership with a local bicycle
sharing company. Your care setting partners with them to host healthy community
events that offer free screenings for early detection of various health issues.
This helps fulfill some of your care setting’s preventive and healthy lifestyle
initiatives, while also potentially driving referrals to other services
provided by your care setting. You have been asked to submit your proposal in
the form of a 2–4 page executive summary that includes your proposed economic
initiative, supporting economic data, and an analysis of the proposal’s
benefits for your department and for the care setting overall.

Instructions

You have been asked to ensure that your report addresses the
following. Note: The bullet points below correspond to grading criteria in the
scoring guide. Be sure your work is, at minimum, addressing each of the bullets
below. You may also want to read the scoring guide and the Guiding Questions:
Executive Brief: Proposal of New Economic Opportunity document to better
understand the performance levels that relate to each grading criterion:

Propose an economic initiative that presents an opportunity
for your care setting at both the micro (departmental, neighborhood) and macro
(organizational, community) levels, and that you believe will provide ethical
and culturally equitable improvements to the quality of care.

Analyze the supply and demand for your proposed economic
initiative within contexts relevant to your care setting.

Explain relevant economic and environmental data that
support your proposal and analysis.

Communicate your economic proposal in a logically structured
and concise manner, writing content clearly with correct use of grammar,
punctuation, and spelling.

Effectively support your proposal with relevant economic
data and scholarly sources, correctly formatting citations and references using
current APA style.

Example assignment: You may use the assignment example,
linked in the Resources, to give you an idea of what a Proficient or higher
rating on the scoring guide would look like.

Submission Requirements

Length of paper: 2–4 double-spaced, typed pages. Your paper
should be succinct yet substantive.

APA formatting: Resources and citations are formatted
according to current APA style.

Resources: Cite a minimum of 3–5 authoritative and scholarly
resources. Be sure to include specific economic data and support as part of
your cited resources.

NHS6008 Economics
and Decision Making in Health Care

Unit 6
Assignment

Business Case for a New Economic Opportunity

Professional Context

As a Master’s level health care practitioner you are
expected to consider a number of factors when analyzing the feasibility of a
new initiative. For example, you need to keep in mind the various types of risk
(such as patient safety, physical plant, financial, or reputation), as well as
the present and future value of the service line or economic opportunity into
which you are investing resources. You also must balance the competing
considerations of your ethical and moral responsibility to provide quality care
to patients and populations, while also protecting your care setting’s assets
and economic viability in the near and long terms.

Scenario

The administrative leadership of your care setting has
reviewed your Executive Brief: Proposal of a New Economic Opportunity and has
decided that it has merit. As a result, you have been asked to take a more detailed
look at the feasibility and cost-benefit considerations of implementing your
proposed economic initiative over the next five years. The administrative
leaders are looking for a 3–5 page report that builds a business case for your
economic initiative by analyzing ways to mitigate the risks associated with
your original proposal and a completed cost-benefit analysis using the included
Cost-Benefit Analysis Template, linked in the Resources.

Instructions

You have been asked to ensure that your report addresses the
following. Note: The bullet points below correspond to grading criteria in the
scoring guide. Be sure your work is, at minimum, addressing each of the bullets
below. You may also want to read the scoring guide and the Guiding Questions:
Business Case for a New Economic Opportunity document to better understand the
performance levels that relate to each grading criterion:

Part 1: Risk and Mitigation Analysis

Analyze the opportunities and risks relevant to your
proposed economic initiative.

Propose ethical and culturally sensitive solutions to
address the risks associated with your economic initiative to ensure the future
security of your care setting.

Part 2: Cost-Benefit Analysis

Analyze the costs and benefits of your proposed economic
initiative over a five-year strategic outlook.

Propose potential ways to keep costs under control while
maximizing the benefits of your economic initiative and ensuring that it
remains ethical and culturally equitable

Address Generally Throughout Business Case

Justify the relevance and value of the quantitative and
qualitative economic, financial, and scholarly evidence you used to support
your recommendations throughout your report.

Communicate your business case in a logically structured and
concise manner, writing content clearly with correct use of grammar,
punctuation, and spelling.

Effectively support your report with relevant economic data
and scholarly sources, correctly formatting citations and references using
current APA style.

Example assignment: You may use the assignment example,
linked in the Resources, to give you an idea of what a Proficient or higher
rating on the scoring guide would look like.

Submission Requirements

Length of paper: 3–5 double-spaced, typed pages (not
including title page and reference list). Your paper should be succinct yet
substantive.

Be sure to include a separate title page and reference list.

Your completed Cost-Benefit Analysis Template should be
included as an appendix within your final business case submission.

APA formatting: Resources and citations are formatted
according to current APA style.

Resources: Cite a minimum of 4–5 authoritative and scholarly
resources. Be sure to include specific economic data and support as part of
your cited resources.

NHS6008 Economics
and Decision Making in Health Care

Unit 9
Assignment

Implementation Plan for a New Economic Opportunity

Professional Context

As a Master’s level health care practitioner you may be
expected to create budget and implementation plans to ensure that economic
opportunities for the organization are rolled out successfully and can be
sustained over multiple years. Additionally, it is important to be able to
envision how an economic initiative could be used for different contexts and
purposes to keep the investment a viable and positive asset to your
organization or care setting.

Scenario

The senior management members have sent you their thanks and
notes on your feasibility stud