31 Jan When faced initially

Week 1 Discussion

DQ 1

Discuss your viewpoints on the question of whether patients can adequately understand and judge the quality of the health care services they receive. Use examples to explain your rationale and include any action items that you think would improve the current situation.

DQ 2

What is your assessment of the origins and validity of physician resentment toward the push by a variety of health care entities to standardize care? If you were a physician, how would you be planning your practice for the future?

Week 2 Discussion

DQ 1

What are the pros and cons of a DRG payor system, and a capitated payor system? If you were a health care czar, which one would you favor and why?

DQ 2

Discuss the impacts of a large portion of the population being uninsured and how this affects the health care system. If this continues, how do you anticipate that the health care system will respond to it? What are the ethical issues and the practical ones?

Week 3 Discussion

DQ1

After you read the module information regarding new technologies, answer the following questions: What are the issues surrounding selection and implementation of new types of technology? Focus on public demand, physician reaction, and issues of cost, among other concerns.

DQ2

Discuss your thoughts and ideas about the newer trend of pharmaceutical and medical supply companies marketing directly to the consumer (e.g., ads about new medications, billboards for new hip and knee implants, etc.). What do you see as the pros and cons?

Week 4 Discussion

DQ1

What are the differences you see between a culture of accountability, where people are held accountable for the mistakes they make, and the Just Culture approach, where mistakes are not punished, but seen as methods of learning? What are the pros and cons of each?

DQ2

What are the risks of revealing mistakes in an open culture, as a way of being transparent with patients and families? What are the risks of concealing mistakes and errors?

Week 5 Discussion

DQ1

What do you see as the conflicts between customizing patient care to the needs of an individual patient and standardizing care based on research?

DQ2

What do you see as the conflicts between customizing patient care to the needs of an individual patient and standardizing care based on research?

Week 6 Discussion

DQ1

Given the different perspectives on change by those who like it and those who dread it, discuss how you would develop readiness for change in a group that mixes both types of people.

DQ2

In health care, change agents are faced with the challenge of engaging both employed staff and physicians in change initiatives. Frequently they have different perspectives and different agendas. Discuss your thoughts on how this can be managed so that everyone can feel that they are heard and that some common ground can be achieved.

Week 7 Discussion

DQ1

Your hospital has been placed on alert for receiving patients from a local explosion at a large factory. Reports from the scene are spotty in terms of numbers killed or injured, and you do not know how many patients you may be getting. News reports are calling for casualties in the 100s, but local fire responders are sending in conflicting reports. You need to know what your ED will be receiving, so you can determine whether to close surgery to elective cases and to go on ED bypass for regular patients. Rumors are swirling inside the hospital and the chain of command about how severe the incident is and what it will do to your ability to function. What thoughts do you have about how to learn what you need to know in order to structure the hospital’s preparations and continue regular functioning at the same time? What resources can you tap in order to learn more accurately about the situation at the scene and what you can expect to come to your ED? How would you manage this situation to cause the minimum disruption to regular hospital functioning?

DQ2

When faced initially with a disaster situation in a health care setting, what do you think your first five steps need to be? Why?

Week 8 Discussion

DQ1

What are the major positives that you see in the PPACA legislation? What are the major negatives that you see in the PPACA legislation? Provide rationale for your answer.

DQ2

What are your thoughts about the emerging accountable care organizations? In what ways do you think they will affect the current health care delivery system? How do you think the practice patterns of primary care physicians will change under the new models of health care? What are the biggest problems that this could bring to primary care practices?