- Report on risk and mitigation and the costs and benefits of a proposed initiative.
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.
Note: Complete the assessments in this course in the order in which they are presented.
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment 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 opportunities and risks relevant to a proposed economic initiative.
- Analyze the costs and benefits of a proposed economic initiative over a five-year time horizon.
- 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.
- Propose potential ways to keep costs under control while maximizing the benefits of an economic initiative and ensuring that it remains ethical and culturally equitable.
- Competency 3: Justify the qualitative and quantitative information used to guide economic decision making to stakeholders and colleagues.
- Justify the relevance and value of the quantitative and qualitative economic, financial, and scholarly evidence used to support recommendations throughout a report.
- Competency 4: Develop ethical and culturally equitable economic strategies to address dynamic environmental forces and ensure the future security of an organization’s resources and its ability to provide quality care.
- Propose ethical and culturally sensitive solutions to address the risks associated with an economic initiative to ensure the future security of a care setting.
- Competency 5: Apply various communication methods in order to clearly, effectively, and efficiently relate information to stakeholders and colleagues related to economic data, findings, and strategies.
- Communicate a business case in a logically structured and concise manner, writing content clearly with correct use of grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
- Effectively support a report with relevant economic data and scholarly sources, correctly formatting citations and references using current APA style.
Competency Map
CHECK YOUR PROGRESSUse this online tool to track your performance and progress through your course.
Context
To support your work on this assessment, take time to read the contents of Assessment 2 Context [PDF].
Questions to Consider
As you prepare to complete this assessment, you may want to think about other related issues to deepen your understanding or broaden your viewpoint. You are encouraged to consider the questions below and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of your professional community. Note that these questions are for your own development and exploration and do not need to be completed or submitted as part of your assessment.
- What kinds of quantitative data can support proposals for change in a health care setting? What kinds of qualitative data can do so?
- What are the five different types of comparative economic analysis?
- What are some realistic and feasible recommended alternatives for health care issues and problems that currently impact your work? What would be the costs of pursuing those alternatives? What would be the benefits?
- When and how are the following methods for valuation best used?
- Human capital.
- Risk preference.
- Contingent valuation.
- Cost-benefit ratio.
- Toggle Drawer
Resources
Assessment Example
Suggested Resources
The resources provided here are optional and support the assessment. They provide helpful information about the topics. You may use other resources of your choice to prepare for this assessment; however, you will need to ensure that they are appropriate, credible, and valid. The NHS-FP6008: Economics and Decision Making in Health Care Library Guide can help direct your research, and the Supplemental Resources and Research Resources, both linked from the navigation menu in your courseroom, provide additional resources to help support you.
Assessment Context
Review the following:
Business Case Development
This document is designed to give you questions to consider and additional guidance to help you successfully complete the Business Case for a New Economic Opportunity assessment:
Cost-Benefit Analysis Development
This is a pre-formatted cost-benefit analysis template spreadsheet:
This resource discusses how to effectively write an accurate and thorough cost-benefit analysis requires some skill:
- Plowman, N. (2014). Writing a cost benefit analysis [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.brighthubpm.com/projectplanning/58181-writing-a-cost-benefit-analysis/
From the CDC’s series on economic evaluation, this resource discusses methods to assess programmatic costs:
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Part IV: Benefit-cost analysis[PDF]. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/programs/spha/economic_evaluation/docs/podcast_iv.pdf
Quantifying Costs, Risks and Benefits of Healthcare Initiatives
This systematic review suggests that local and national public health interventions are highly cost-saving:
- Masters, R., Anwar, E., Collins, B., Cookson, R., & Capewell, S. (2017). Return on investment of public health interventions: A systematic review. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 71(8), 82–834. Retrieved from http://jech.bmj.com/content/71/8/827
This resource discusses how economic evaluation helps to identify, measure, and compare activities with the necessary impact, scalability, and sustainability to optimize population health:
- Rabarison, K. M., Bish, C. L., Massoudi, M. S., & Giles, W. H. (2015). Economic evaluation enhances public health decision making. Frontiers in Public Health, 3, 164. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4478374/
This resource addresses the cost and benefits of medical interventions:
- Hauber, A. B., Fairchild, A. O., & Johnson, F. R. (2013). Quantifying benefit-risk preferences for medical interventions: An overview of a growing empirical literature. Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, 11(4), 319–329.
From the CDC’s series on economic evaluation, this resource discusses methods to assess programmatic costs:
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Part III: Programmatic cost analysis[PDF]. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/programs/spha/economic_evaluation/docs/podcast_iii.pdf
From the CDC’s series on economic evaluation, this resource discusses cost-effectiveness analysis:
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Part V: Cost-effectiveness analysis[PDF]. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/programs/spha/economic_evaluation/docs/podcast_v.pdf
· Assessment Instructions
In this assessment, you will conduct a risk and mitigation analysis and cost-benefit analysis and report on your findings.
Scenario
The senior management 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 senior management is 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 Cost-Benefit Analysis Template, linked in the Resources.
Directions
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, linked in the Resources, to better understand the performance levels that relate to each grading criterion:
Part 1: Risk and Mitigation Analysis
Complete the following:
- 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
Complete the following:
- Analyze the costs and benefits of your proposed economic initiative over a five-year time horizon.
- 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
Complete the following:
- 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 Assessment: You may use the assessment example, linked in the Assessment Example section of the Resources, to give you an idea of what a Proficient or higher rating on the scoring guide would look like.
Additional Requirements
Your assessment should meet the following requirements:
- Length: 3–5 double-spaced, typed pages. Your paper should be succinct yet substantive.
- Be sure to include a title page and reference list.
- Your completed Cost-Benefit Analysis Template should be included as an appendix within your final business case submission.
- APA format: Resources and citations are formatted according to current APA style.
- Resources: Cite 4–5 authoritative and scholarly resources. Be sure to include specific economic data and support as part of your cited resources.
