21 Jan This activity will help

MSN6218 Leading the Future of Health Care

Unit 6 Discussion

DQ1 Health Information Exchanges

Better access to patient medical data by health care providers and their patients can improve the quality and safety of care and lower costs. Digital technologies and the advent of HIEs enable electronic information sharing that helps solve this problem, but building a secure and interoperable nationwide network of independent exchanges presents numerous challenges.

Choose two of the following five issues that you feel have a significant impact on the federal government’s goal of an efficient network of HIEs that permit sharing of patients’ medical data among all health care providers nationwide.

Technology.

Interoperability.

Funding (public and private).

Competition.

Policies and procedures.

Privacy and security.

Then complete the following:

Explain why you consider these issues to be important.

What actions should be taken to address these issues?

What are the implications for providers and patients of not resolving these issues?

What evidence supports your conclusions about the importance of these issues, proposed actions, and the implications of resolving or not resolving these issues?

Note: Remember to adhere to the requirements listed in the Faculty Expectations Message for unit discussion posts and peer responses.

Response Guidelines

In responding to a colleague’s post, consider the following questions:

What assumptions underlie your colleague’s position on the issues addressed in their post?

What sources can you cite that offer a different perspective on the issues? For example, consider the point of view of a leader in a private HIE.

What additional sources can you cite that lend support to your colleague’s position?

Learning Components

This activity will help you achieve the following learning components:

Identify applicable health benchmarks or goals.

Identify existing health care policies and their effects on current and future outcomes.

Identify the reasons for policy change.

Identify the various types of policies that can affect the provision of health care and patient outcomes.

Resources

DQ2 Improving Access in Underserved Areas

Despite the intention of the ACA, a large segment of the U.S. population remains uninsured, underinsured, or living in an area without adequate numbers of health care providers to meet their needs. Gaps remain in the provision of safe, high-quality health care for small, rural communities; for heavily populated, economically disadvantaged areas; and for diverse and vulnerable populations.

Choose a small rural area or large urban area with particular needs, or an area that you are familiar with, that is underserved or is considered to have a high-risk population.

What makes this area underserved?

Is the reason related to the economy or the location?

What are the two biggest needs of this population?

How can the delivery of care be improved?

What assumptions are you making, if any, about this population?

What evidence supports your conclusions about the needs of this population and improvements in care?

Note: Remember to adhere to the requirements listed in the Faculty Expectations Message for unit discussion posts and peer responses.

Response Guidelines

In responding to a colleague’s post, consider the following questions:

Are your colleague’s assumptions valid?

Is your colleague’s assessment of the priority needs supported by the evidence?

If not, what evidence leads you to a different conclusion?

Can you offer other ideas that would help improve the delivery of care?

Learning Components

This activity will help you achieve the following learning components:

Evaluate present outcomes.

Identify applicable health benchmarks or goals.

Examine the culture of the organization and community.

Identify the social factors that influence community health.