The Process of Bench marking

In order to be competitive in health care markets, organizations must ensure that the services they provide are consistent in pricing and quality with other comparable organizations. In this Discussion, you will examine how the process of benchmarking, or comparing organizations, is important in financial decision making.

To prepare:

Review the information on benchmarking found in this week’s Learning Resources.

Search the Walden Library or other reliable resources on the Internet and locate a journal article discussing how a health care organization has used the principle of benchmarking.

How could the concept of benchmarking be used in your own organization (or one with which you are familiar), regardless of size? The Process of Bench marking

Consider how benchmarking could be useful to you in decision making.

Analyze the potential risks of making a faulty comparison.

Post a summary of the article you found (including the APA reference) and explain how it informed your understanding of benchmarking. Discuss how benchmarking could be used for financial decision making in your own organization (or one with which you are familiar). Also analyze the potential risks of making comparisons with an organization that is not a credible match with your own.

And

Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days. Comment on a colleague with different options than your own. Describe what you like about their options and if you agree with their rankings. Justify your answers.

(I will send the responses soon)

Required Readings

Baker, J., & Baker, R. W. (2014). Health care finance: Basic tools for nonfinancial managers (4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning.

Chapter 13, “Trend Analysis, Common Sizing, and Forecasted Data” (pp. 143–155)

The focus of this chapter is the use of trend analysis and forecasting to develop future budgets and make financial decisions about capital purchases, programs, and personnel.

Chapter 14, “Using Comparative Data” (pp. 157–169)

In this chapter, you are introduced to the criteria for identifying other health care organizations that are comparable to your own. Data from these organizations can then be used to evaluate your own organizational performance.

Chapter 18, “Estimates, Benchmarking, and Other Measurement Tools” (pp. 215–224) The Process of Bench marking

In this chapter, you continue exploring the concept of financial benchmarking. The chapter focuses on the importance of benchmarking for identifying performance gaps.

Zelman, W., McCue, M., & Glick, N. (2009). Financial management of health care organizations: An introduction to fundamental tools, concepts, and applications (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass. 

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Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Chapter 5, “Working Capital Management” (pp. 187–231)

This chapter examines the concept of working capital. The authors explore the specifics of current assets and the management of the working capital cycle.

Chapter 11, “Responsibility Accounting” (pp. 468–497)

Review: This chapter explores the trend toward the decentralization of health care organizations and the challenges this presents. This chapter also describes responsibility centers, or organizational units intended to achieve specific tasks.

 Mulva, S., & Dai, J. (2009) Health care facility benchmarking. HERD, 3(1), 28–37.

Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications via the Copyright Clearance Center.

This article describes a national health care facility’s benchmarking program. It is designed to compare measures of capital project performance.

 Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2013). Measuring and benchmarking clinical performance. Retrieved from www.ahrq.gov

 Ettorchi-Tardy, A., Levif, M., & Michel, P. (2012). Benchmarking: A Method for Continuous Quality Improvement in Health. Healthcare Policy, e101-e119. Retrieved fromhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3359088/

 Document: Week 10 Application Assignment Template (Excell Spreadsheet)

Required Media

Laureate Education (Producer). (2012). Expense forecasting. Baltimore, MD: Author. 

Note:  The approximate length of this media piece is 5 minutes.

In this video, Dr. William Ward discusses expense forecasting and demonstrates how to perform trend analysis, staff forecasting, comparative data analysis, and capacity forecasting. The Process of Bench marking

Accessible player  

 Laureate Education (Producer). (2015). Week 10 Application Assignment Tutorial: Benefit Cost Ratio. Baltimore, MD: Author.

 Laureate Education (Producer). (2015). Week 10 Application Assignment Tutorial: Breakeven Analysis. Baltimore, MD: Author. 

 Laureate Education (Producer). (2015). Week 10 Application Assignment Tutorial: Expense Forecasting. Baltimore, MD: Author. 

 Laureate Education (Producer). (2015). Week 10 Application Assignment Tutorial: Profit and Loss Scenario. Baltimore, MD: Author. 

Optional Resources

 Hurlock J. (2012). Get to know Excel 2010: Create your first spreadsheet. Retrieved from http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel-help/get-to-know-excel-2010-create-your-first-spreadsheet-RZ101773335.aspx

 Goodwill Community Foundation, Inc. (n.d.). Excel 2010. Retrieved from http://www.gcflearnfree.org/excel2010 The Process of Bench marking

Read the below scenario and answer the questions that follow: Nursing services are an important part in caring for the patients and providing them the relief they need. From patients with chronic health conditions to patients who need elder care, nursing has proved itself as an important aspect. People now prefer sending their elder parents to a day-care nurses for nursing services. Community Based Nursing 

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• How often have you come across the terms public health nursing, community health nursing, and community based nursing in your environment? Do you think it is a good idea to distinguish between them? Justify your answer.
• Compare the nursing codes of ethics for your specialty practice, national, and international practice areas. How do they differ? Does it make sense to have more than one code of ethics for nurses? Give reasons for your point of view. Community Based Nursing 

Role of the Community Health Nurse Obtain a job description for a community health nurse or interview a public health nurse to answer the following questions: Community Based Nursing 

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• Which concept of public health nursing does their practice reflect?
• Which concept is emphasized in their job description?
• Does a correlation exist between their job description and their practice?
• Are the nurses involved in policy formulation that affects client services?
• In the settings you have observed, which concept (in your opinion) is the most effective for implementation? What is your rationale? Community Based Nursing 

Strategic planning involves reciprocity of analysis and action. Over the previous weeks of this course, you have been examining foundational elements of the strategic planning process. As you move forward, you will apply these concepts to the development of a strategic plan.

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Through the Course Project, you will identify an unmet need within a group, unit, or organization and develop a comprehensive strategic plan to address the need. You will develop your project over the next several weeks, culminating in Last week.

Note: Your complete project will serve as your Portfolio Assignment for this course.

To prepare for the upcoming work on this project:

Review the Course Project Overview in this week’s Learning Resources to become familiar with the project components and due dates.

Reflect on the trends addressed in this week’s Discussion. Think about which of these trends, or any additional ones, stand out as being particularly relevant to your own interests and the professional contributions you would like to make now and in the future. Developing a Strategic Plan 

Think about how one or more of these trends relates to an unmet need evident in a specific group, unit, or organization. For example, you might choose the unit in which you currently work or a professional association to which you belong. Developing a Strategic Plan 

Consider how you could address this unmet need through strategic planning. What is your vision and goal(s)?

Begin to analyze historical data and engage in forecasting to investigate opportunities for change.

Course Project: Developing a Strategic Plan

Section 1: Summary of the Issue

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To prepare for and set the stage for your Course Project, this week you begin to develop a summary of the issue you will address through the creation of a strategic plan.

You may wish to review the Course Project Overview, which outlines the project components and due dates.

To prepare:

Consider the information on strategic planning presented by Dr. Huston in this week’s media program, as well as in the other Learning Resources.

Reflect on the unmet need you identified in this week’s Discussion, and consider any feedback you have received to your posting from your Instructor and colleagues. If appropriate, refine your focus to clarify the unmet need.

In addition to the steps you took in preparation for the Discussion, proceed as follows:

Investigate the background related to this unmet need. What conditions have contributed to this situation? Is there data (beyond what you identified for the Discussion) that should be examined?

Conduct research to assess what has been attempted in the past, by various individuals or organizations, to address this unmet need.

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Think about any broader issues that should be examined to better understand this unmet need. For instance, consider economic, political, and/or social considerations.

Begin to draft your 2- to 3-page summary of the Issue (which will be submitted next week). In your summary, identify and/or describe:

• The unmet need and how it is evident in the specific group, unit, or organization
• The mission, vision, and values of the group, unit, or organization
• Background, including:
• Data from historical analysis and forecasting
• Evidence from the literature
• What has been attempted in the past by various individuals and groups to address this need
• Which stakeholders should be included in the strategic planning process
• Initial vision for addressing this need at the organizational or systems level, including at least one strategic goal
• Broader issues to be considered

Section 2: SWOT Analysis

Conducting a SWOT analysis can have tremendous value in preparing for planned change.

To prepare:

• Conduct a SWOT analysis for your Course Project, incorporating any insights you have gained from this week’s Discussion. Identify two strengths, two weaknesses, two opportunities, and two threats that warrant attention relative to the identified unmet need.
• Reflect on how you distinguished between weaknesses and threats and consider whether the threats or weaknesses also pose opportunities.

To complete:

Write a 2- to 3-page summary that conveys the results of your SWOT analysis. Include:

• Two strengths
• Two weaknesses
• Two opportunities
• Two threats
• An explanation of whether the threats or weaknesses also pose opportunities

So, in nutshell you need to submit,

Submit:

Section 1: Summary of the Issue (2–3 pages)

Section 2: SWOT Analysis (2–3 pages)

Please use the Refetrences from the week 5 6 and 7 Discussion Posts.

Minimum of 4 references in each section papers.

Just to summarize, there are two papers to be submitted, section 1 and section 2. These are part of project that will be the final submission as a portfolio assignemnt.

Application: Factors Contributing to Health Disparities and Ways to Address Them.

The Healthy People 2020 objectives and the Millennium Goals are two ambitious approaches to addressing the disparities found in vulnerable populations. In this Application Assignment, you will determine factors that contribute to health disparities, how culture impacts treatment in healthcare, and how the goals and objectives plan to reduce or eliminate health disparities BEHAVORIAL AND CULTURAL ISSUES.

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To prepare for this Application Assignment, review the following (with your Healthy People assigned focus area in mind):

• The definition of culture and articles relating to how culture impacts treatment in healthcare are posted in the Doc Sharing area under Week 3 helpful articles
• Pages 24–41 of your textbook about the objectives that relate to health care in general and, more specifically, health disparities.
• The Millennium Development Goals Report 2009 http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/MDG_Report_2009_ENG.pdf
• Healthy People 2020: What Are Its Goals? http://healthypeople.gov/2020/

• Focus your attention on “Overarching Goal #2: Achieve health equity, eliminate disparities, and improve the health of all groups .”

To complete this Application BEHAVORIAL AND CULTURAL ISSUES Assignment, write a 3- to 4-page paper that addresses the following questions.

• What socio-ecological factors contribute to the existence of health disparities? (Examples include socioeconomics and education).
• How might one’s culture serve as a barrier to equal treatment when it comes to healthcare? Give an example. (*Note: Please remember that culture is not skin color).
• Give an example or examples of how populations experience unequal treatment and disparity in healthcare. Provide some statistics to help illustrate this point from the CDC, the textbook, your Resources this week, or another reliable source.
• How do the health-related Millennium Development Goals address such health disparities?
• Discuss 2 to 3 Healthy People 2020 objectives that provide a framework for addressing health disparities, based on your Healthy People assigned focus area.

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Support your answers with statistical information about your Healthy People assigned focus area. The following are a few websites that provide a wealth of data regarding specific populations and Healthy People assigned focus area:

• State Health Facts, Kaiser Family Foundation www.statehealthfacts.org
• Statistical Information System, World Health Organization http://www.who.int/whosis/en/
• Interactive Map: Maps: The Global Picture http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/aids/atlas/us.html

Be sure to support your work with specific citations from this week’s Learning Resources and additional scholarly sources as appropriate. Refer to the Essential Guide to APA Style for Walden Students to ensure that your in-text citations and reference list are correct. Also, since this is your only application, you may want to submit this to a Walden Writing Center tutor first as well as run it through Turnitin.com prior to submission. Other helpful resources include: BEHAVORIAL AND CULTURAL ISSUES

• Citations: http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/apa/citations/intextparenthetical
• Reference List: http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/apa/references
• “Gold Star” Application Example
  Jody Early. GOLDSTAR APPLICATION EXAMPLE. Used by permission of Jody Early.
• Organizing Your Week 3 Application Paper. Used by permission of Shelley Armstrong.

Health informatics professionals are required to know the laws and regulations that impact health information management. At some point in your career, you may be asked to participate in policy review or development and apply specifications included in new regulations to existing policies. You should understand how new regulations impact the healthcare organization and how best to educate staff on any changes How New Regulations Impact The Healthcare Organization.

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This task will provide you with the “Sections of Montana Code” needed for one portion of this assessment. The codes include definitions from Montana law pertaining to the validity of consent of minor for health services (41-1-402), confidentiality of health information (50-16-603), patients’ examination and copying (50-16-541 and 50-16-542), and reasonable fees allowed (50-16-540).

Tasks in Word Document Task 1.
A. Discuss the various issues that should be considered by a healthcare organization when defining the legal health record.
B. Discuss one situation from Montana Code 41-1-402 (2a–d), pertaining to the validity of a minor for health services, which may result in criminal liability to the organization if not followed; use HIPAA’s definition of criminal liability, when you discuss your hypothetical situation.
C. Discuss one situation from Montana Code 50-16-603x (1–7) specific to health record identification that may result in a legal claim against the organization if not followed.
D. Compare three points in the Montana codes with what is stated in HIPAA laws as they refer to release of information; use Montana Codes 50-16-540, 541, 542 How New Regulations Impact The Healthcare Organization.

Task 2
LEGAL & ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN HEALTHCARE

Competency 730.3.3: Legal Aspects of Risk Management and Quality – The graduate evaluates the confluence of quality improvement and risk management practices that support favorable legal outcomes for healthcare organizations.
Competency 730.3.5: Compliance Programs – The graduate applies compliance requirements identified by government regulations and by accreditation, licensing, and certification agencies to mitigate legal risk to healthcare organizations.

Introduction:

Risk management, quality improvement, and compliance programs have discrete applications within a healthcare organization, yet they have complementary goals. The motive for these programs is to improve all aspects of the patient experience. There are external regulations and requirements imposed on all organizations, and these regulations are controlled by the internal processes designed by each organization.

There is an expectation of care and trust between patients and their healthcare providers. An organization needs to be vigilant in all circumstances, particularly those involving patient safety.

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Requirements:

A. Analyze the “Compliance Management” scenario by doing the following:

1. Describe the mistakes made in this scenario step by step as they occurred.

2. Analyze whether any of the mistakes identified in part A1 were a violation of organizational compliance, a legal concern, or both.

3. Describe specific solutions the compliance officer and Sue, the manager, should implement to prevent reoccurrence of the identified mistakes from part A1.



B. Identify Health Informatics and Information Management (HIIM) areas of expertise in compliance and explain how the HIIM Department staff could assume a leadership role in teaching compliance behaviors to the clinic’s staff members to mitigate legal risk.

1. Explain the importance of staff understanding informed consent in order to ensure patient safety and trust.

2. Describe release of protected health information (PHI) and how it protects patient privacy.



C. When you use sources, include all in-text citations and references in APA format