Economic Initiative Proposal Assignment

Economic Initiative Proposal Assignment

Research an economic opportunity that might be available within your health care setting that will provide ethical and culturally equitable improvements to the quality of care. Then, write a 2-4 page proposal for an initiative to take advantage of that opportunity, supported with economic data and an analysis of the prospective benefits.

Introduction

Note: Each assessment in this course builds upon the work you have completed in previous assessments. Therefore, you must complete the assessments in the order in which they are presented. Economic Initiative Proposal Assignment

Master’s-level health care practitioners are charged with the responsibility of constantly scanning the external environment for shifts in the supply of, and demand for, services. Concurrently, leaders must examine their organization’s strategic direction and determine whether adjustments must be made to current service offerings, whether equipment updates are needed, whether staffing models should be changed, and whether other decisions must be made. Each decision that is proposed must be evaluated in terms of the organization as a system, alignment with the organization’s 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.

Preparation

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Research an economic opportunity that might be available within your health care setting—at both micro (departmental, neighborhood) and macro (organizational, community) levels—that you believe will provide ethical and culturally equitable improvements to the quality of care. Then, propose an initiative to take advantage of that opportunity. Support your proposal with economic data (sector growth, supply versus demand, cost versus reimbursement, et cetera) and an analysis of the prospective benefits for your department and for the organization overall. Economic Initiative Proposal Assignment

Such economic opportunities might include offering a new service line, working to improve a service line already offered, retiring an outdated or unprofitable service line, or any other initiative you believe will be of benefit to your organization in the short and long term. One example is a recently launched partnership with a local bicycle-sharing company. Your organization partners with them to host healthy community events that offer free screenings for early detection of various health issues. Free screenings help fulfill some of your organization’s preventive and healthy lifestyle initiatives, while also potentially driving referrals to other services provided by your organization.

Note: Your proposal will serve as the basis for subsequent assessments in this course. Economic Initiative Proposal Assignment

Instructions

The requirements for your proposal, outlined below, correspond to the scoring guide criteria, so be sure to address each main point. Read the performance-level descriptions for each criterion to see how your work will be assessed. In addition, be sure to note the requirements for document forma, length, and supporting evidence.

• Explain why your proposed initiative presents a viable and beneficial economic opportunity for your organization.

• • Describe your proposed service line or economic initiative.
  • Explain why your proposal presents an economic opportunity at the micro level and macro level.
  • Explain how your proposed initiative will provide ethical and culturally equitable improvements to the quality of care.
• Analyze the economic factors of supply and demand associated with your proposed initiative, within a context relevant to your organization or care setting. Economic Initiative Proposal Assignment

• • What do economic and demographic data suggest is the supply and demand?
  • What additional information would improve your analysis?
• Explain how relevant economic and environmental data support your proposed initiative.

• • How does the data illustrate a potential opportunity and the economic viability of your proposal?
• Write concisely and directly, using active voice.

• • Proofread your proposal before you submit it to minimize errors that could distract readers and make it more difficult for them to focus on the substance of your proposal.
• Support main points, assertions, arguments, conclusions, or recommendations with relevant and credible evidence.

Example Assessment: You may use the following to give you an idea of what a Proficient or higher rating on the scoring guide would look like: Economic Initiative Proposal Assignment

• Assessment 1 Example [PDF].

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

Your assessment should also meet the following requirements:

• Format: Format your proposal using current APA style. Use the APA Style Paper Tutorial [DOCX] to help you in writing and formatting your proposal. Be sure to include:

• • A title page and references page. An abstract is not required.
  • A running head on all pages.
  • Appropriate section headings.
• Length: Your proposal should be 2–4 pages in length, not including the title page and references page.
• Supporting evidence: Cite 3–5 authoritative and scholarly resources to support your proposal. Be sure that your sources include specific economic data.

Competencies Measured

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment scoring guide criteria:

• Competency 1: Analyze the effects of financial and economic factors (such as cost-benefit, supply and demand, return on investment, and risks) in a health care system on patient care, services offered, and organizational structures and operation.

• • Analyze the economic factors of supply and demand associated with a proposed initiative, within a context relevant to a particular organization or care setting.
• Competency 2: Develop ethical and culturally equitable solutions to economic problems within a health care organization in an effort to improve the quality of care and services offered. Economic Initiative Proposal Assignment

• • Explain why a proposed initiative presents a viable and beneficial economic opportunity for an organization.
• Competency 3: Justify the qualitative and quantitative information used to guide economic decision making to stakeholders and colleagues.

• • Explain how relevant economic and environmental data support a proposed initiative.
• Competency 5: Produce clear, coherent, and professional written work, in accordance with Capella writing standards. Economic Initiative Proposal Assignment

• • Write concisely and directly using active voice.
  • Support main points, assertions, arguments, conclusions, or recommendations with relevant and credible evidence.

 

One of the biggest challenges that healthcare facilities deal with is overcrowding. Most hospitals have been looking to reduce the overcrowding for economic reasons, expand outpatient services and decrease their patient’s length of stay (Bahadori et al., 2017). Outpatient visits are increasing due to the increase in lifestyle diseases such as diabetes. This has led to overcrowding in the outpatient wards that cause poor access to services, long waiting times, difficulties in making appointments, and employee dissatisfaction (Frangoudes et al., 2021). The suggested economic initiative for this organization is introducing chatbots to help manage recurrent patient problems. Chatbots will also increase efficiency and reduce the overcrowding in the hospitals.

Why the Proposed Initiative Presents a Viable and Beneficial Economic Opportunity to the Organization

Chatbots are gaining traction as a promising way to obtain and offer healthcare services. The expanding number of publicly available chatbots intending to play an active part in providing preventative, diagnosis, and treatment services provide proof (Frangoudes et al., 2021). Organizations must examine how these new chatbots address design elements essential to healthcare service provision, focusing on human-AI interaction and openness in AI automation and decision-making. Healthcare chatbots are conceptualized as interconnected layers, including the knowledge, services, and dialog layers (Miles et al., 2021). The knowledge layer contains the domain and user databases. The service layer consists of information that is input for relevant service delivery. The dialog layer is attained when the decisions are communicated. The dialog layer extracts the user intentions (patient wants to see the doctor), creates responses by consulting the service layer, and communicates them to the presentation payer that implements a text to both the patients and the healthcare providers. The chatbots do not provide any healthcare services, but they present an entry point to using them (Bahadori et al., 2017). The main aim is to increase the efficiency of healthcare services, reduce the effort, and increase the speed of access to healthcare services by reducing the effort and increasing the speed of access. They do this by connecting patients to healthcare professionals, providing healthcare customer service tasks, and discovering medical drugs online. Economic Initiative Proposal Assignment

The chatbots are also critical for patient education by preventing users from visiting blogs that may have misleading information on various health issues (Hazarika, 2020). Healthcare education is critical for the health communities since it helps individuals embrace better lifestyle changes. Individuals and communities can be empowered to live healthier lives through health education programs that improve their physical, mental, emotional, and social health by enhancing their awareness and changing their attitudes towards caring for their well-being (Miles et al., 2021). Chatbots are critical since they provide patients with information on self-managing their conditions. Chatbots have been particularly beneficial during the covid 19 pandemic. They have allowed physicians to continue patient education and cover a broader range of health issues such as substance abuse, depression, and cancers. There are numerous variations of the interface that have been used for various patients (Bahadori et al., 2017). Some include the patient’s avatar. These chatbots are excellent for all patients, including those who cannot write or read, since most of them also have a voice-recognition feature. The chatbots are conversation agents in general and provide the communication logic behind virtual patients.  Economic Initiative Proposal Assignment

Analysis of the Economic Factors of Supply And Demand Linked with the Initiative

For an effective economic initiative, the demand and supply need to be on the same levels. Healthcare processes involve cyclic data processing to derive meaningful and actionable decisions. The rapid increases in clinical data increase the occupational stress of healthcare providers and impact their ability to provide quality and effective services (Hazarika, 2020). Therefore, chatbots solve a critical healthcare issue that allows healthcare organizations to provide better services, improved patient satisfaction, and better overall health outcomes. Healthcare systems have to radically design programs that will safeguard the safety and quality of services while minimizing efficiencies to ensure that the staff is satisfied and actively supported in their work (Miles et al., 2021). The technology can drive healthcare reforms, increase efficiency, augment provider satisfaction, and increase patient experiences and outcomes. Economic Initiative Proposal Assignment

Healthcare encounters between patients and healthcare providers are increasingly complex as patients present with multimorbidity. Miles et al. (2021) indicate that patients today have at least one chronic illness. Further complications are generated by the prevalence of mental health issues alongside chronic illnesses. Healthcare services are mainly built around monomorbidity approaches, impacting patient satisfaction and healthcare quality, especially when chronic conditions are intertwined (Hazarika, 2020). For instance, binge eating (a mental health disorder) may lead to diabetes. Binge eating may also result in patients who are stress eating due to the treatment burden of diabetes. The chatbots can be programmed to ask questions that may suggest multimorbidity issues in patients ensuring that one of the conditions they have does not exacerbate the symptoms of the other conditions increasing the healthcare costs and disability issues for the patient (Palanica et al., 2019). Economic Initiative Proposal Assignment

Today, the demand for chatbots is high since healthcare organizations want to reduce overcrowding and increase efficiency in booking appointments and assessing emergencies. Frangoudes et al. (2021) indicate that by 2027, the chatbot market may reach $967.7 billion. The use of this technology is not new to the healthcare industry. Still, there have been rapid advances in the field over the past years that have facilitated growth in the availability of healthcare data.

Relevant Economic and Environmental Data to Support the Proposed Initiative

When developing the initiative, the primary priority is to ensure that the target population can effectively access care regardless of their economic standing. The economic and environmental data of the proposed population enhances the health care projections (Miles et al., 2021). For instance, it considers the cost of the program and implementation mechanism to ensure competitive cost and reliable results from the program. With the program, consumers can effectively monitor and understand the cost of treatment before they get to the facility personally. Additionally, implementing this program creates a better opportunity for the community and physicians to interact (Hazarika, 2020). Therefore, it creates an avenue that will tailor the healthcare cost to meet the specifications of the given group. Services that would previously be paid for in order for the population to access can be made available at a better cost whenever the patient clicks it (Frangoudes et al., 2021). This way, the program will allow patients to access credible information without restrictions. Economic Initiative Proposal Assignment

Implementing financial rewards increases organization profitability since consumers choose the organization because of improved care quality. The program benefits everyone, including managers, patients, employees, and the government. To meet the benchmarks, it is necessary to ensure that the organization is run efficiently. The managers can increase an atmosphere where the employees feel valued and feel better about their jobs. This program is critical for all healthcare organizations because it develops shifts within the environment and results in patient satisfaction. Economic Initiative Proposal Assignment

References

Bahadori, M., Teymourzadeh, E., Ravangard, R., & Raadabadi, M. (2017). Factors affecting the overcrowding in outpatient healthcare. Journal of Education And Health Promotion, 6. doi: 10.4103/2277-9531.204742

Frangoudes, F., Hadjiaros, M., Schiza, E. C., Matsangidou, M., Tsivitanidou, O., & Neokleous, K. (2021, July). An Overview of the Use of Chatbots in Medical and Healthcare Education. In International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (pp. 170-184). Springer, Cham. DOI:10.1007/978-3-030-77943-6_11

Hazarika, I. (2020). Artificial intelligence: opportunities and implications for the health workforce. International Health, 12(4), 241-245. doi: 10.1093/inthealth/ihaa007

Miles, O., West, R., & Nadarzynski, T. (2021). Health chatbots acceptability moderated by perceived stigma and severity: A cross-sectional survey. Digital Health, 7, 20552076211063012. https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076211063012

Palanica, A., Flaschner, P., Thommandram, A., Li, M., & Fossat, Y. (2019). Physicians’ perceptions of chatbots in health care: cross-sectional web-based survey. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 21(4), e12887. DOI:10.2196/12887

Executive Brief: Proposal of New Economic Opportunity The primary objective of Whilborne Medical Center (WMC) has always been to deliver high-quality health care to the community. The medical center can take a step further in that direction by setting up a new urgent care center (UCC) within its premises. A UCC is a health care facility that provides immediate care, without a scheduled appointment, for injuries and illnesses that are not life-threatening and do not require admission to the emergency department (ED). The key characteristics of a UCC are reduced wait times, increased service hours, reduced costs, and quick service (Chang et al., 2015). Economic Initiative Proposal Assignment

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WMC is located in an area that has around 3,000 locals whose urgent care needs may be met by the UCC. Additionally, WMC, being located near Maxima Industrial Park, receives a lot of cases of work-related injuries (e.g., minor burns, sprains, cuts, and abrasions) and other minor illnesses (e.g., fever, headache, ear infection, abdominal pain, and respiratory illnesses) that require immediate attention. Currently, such cases are handled by the medical center’s ED, which leads to overcrowding and reduced efficiency. Once the UCC is set up, such cases can be diverted to the UCC to ease the burden on the ED at the medical center.

Outcomes of Starting an Urgent Care Center

WMC has always strived to focus on the six areas of health care quality—timeliness, safety, patient-centeredness, efficiency, equity, and effectiveness—stated by the Institute of Medicine (IOM). Setting up a UCC will help the medical center achieve its vision of improving community health and delivering superior health care, irrespective of patients’ cultural background, age, gender, and socioeconomic status (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2016). Economic Initiative Proposal Assignment

The new line of service will be convenient for patients with noncritical conditions that require immediate attention. They will not have to wait for several hours as they do at the medical center’s ED. They will be able to walk in without an appointment and avail after-hours health care services on all days of the week. Setting up a UCC will help the ED concentrate on critical, life-threatening medical cases; it will also improve the efficiency of the ED and the quality of care provided to patients (Qin et al., 2015).

Expenses on technology and infrastructure are comparatively low for setting up the UCC. Consequently, the cost of health care services provided at the UCC will be low in comparison to the cost of health care services at the ED of the medical center. Moreover, a UCC is an affordable means of availing health care services for noncritical ailments (Qin et al., 2015). This makes it an economically viable health care solution for the neighborhood. With its services, the UCC will generate additional revenue for the medical center. Economic Initiative Proposal Assignment

Although setting up a UCC has several positive outcomes, it has some negative outcomes, too. One of the drawbacks of getting treated at a UCC is that patients are likely to get care from different physicians every time they visit the UCC. This may result in the physicians not knowing their patients’ personal or family health history, and the patients may not receive the same quality of care they receive at their primary care physician’s office. In addition, although wait times at UCCs are shorter than at EDs, patients could end up waiting longer than when they would see their primary care physician with an appointment on days that the UCCs have high footfall. Also, more staff may have to be hired at the UCC, which will entail additional costs for the medical center.

Factors Influencing the Setting up of an Urgent Care

A UCC is a volume-driven business that is dependent on many economic and environmental factors. Environmental data suggests that WMC is a reputed medical center in the area and there are few health clinics in the vicinity. The walk-in facility at the UCC and its proximity to Maxima Industrial Park will make it a preferred option for employees working at the industrial park. As the industrial park consists mainly of manufacturing units, there is a high possibility of work-related injuries. Therefore, the UCC can expect a high number of visits from these employees. Also, most employees at these companies work in shifts and sometimes on weekends. This is a great opportunity for the UCC as it plans to offer health care services even in the evenings and on weekends. Economic Initiative Proposal Assignment

The capital cost of the project is estimated to be $350,000. It will include the cost of construction, equipment, and furniture. There will be no land cost because the UCC will be built within WMC’s premises. One half of the required funds will be procured through a bank loan; the other half will be funded using the medical center’s reserves. It is assumed that an average of 357 patients will visit the UCC every week and the consultation fee for each patient will be around $156 (AMN Healthcare, 2015; Yakobi, 2017). Calculations suggest that the UCC will record a cash surplus in the first five years. This illustrates that starting a UCC will be an economically viable opportunity for the medical center.

 

 

Analysis of Supply and Demand for the Urgent Care Center

Aside from the 3,000 locals in the area who might benefit from the UCC at WMC, there is a large client base at the industrial park located near the center. Maxima Industrial Park comprises 10 companies, each having an employee strength of 2,000–3,000 individuals. In all, about 30,000 employees work here. There are just two primary health clinics and a retail health clinic around the industrial park, and WMC is the only multispecialty medical center located within a 5-mile radius. Therefore, there are not enough facilities in the vicinity to cater to the medical needs of employees working in the industrial park, creating a supply–demand gap.

Being the only multispecialty medical center near the industrial park, WMC receives a lot of cases pertaining to work-related injuries and minor illnesses that require immediate attention. This overloads the ED of the medical center with noncritical cases and hinders it from being able to focus on patients admitted for treatment of critical, life-threatening diseases. Establishing a UCC within WMC’s premises will contribute toward bridging the supply–demand gap without compromising on the quality of health care delivered. Economic Initiative Proposal Assignment

While analyzing the data pertaining to the supply and demand for the proposed UCC, areas of uncertainty have been identified. The successful implementation of this proposal would depend on receiving timely approval of the planned bank loan and approval from the board of directors of the medical center to allocate funds to support this proposal. Another area of uncertainty is the level of awareness of UCCs in the neighborhood. Therefore, there may be a need to create awareness of the functions and necessity of a UCC. Patients may not want to avail services at the UCC because of their lack of awareness, and this might negatively impact revenue estimates.

 

Conclusion

Setting up a UCC will reduce the burden on the ED at WMC, making it more efficient. Patients will receive accessible, high-quality, affordable care without a scheduled appointment, and they will benefit from the after-hours care. Also, the UCC will bring in additional revenue for the medical center and help acquire new patients. Therefore, setting up a UCC within WMC’s premises will be a lucrative economic opportunity. Economic Initiative Proposal Assignment