DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Why is it difficult to forecast the impact of trends on the future of health care delivery in the United States?
2. What are some of the common forecasting methods used?
3. What forces do the chapter authors believe will be the principal drivers of changes in health care delivery in the next 5 years?
4 What major trends affecting health care delivery will be important in the next 5 years?
CASE STUDIES
CASE STUDY #1
You have taken an analyst’s position at the federal Department of Health and Human Services and have been ask to write a short position paper summarizing the positive impact of health reform and the implementation difficulties that need to be addressed.
CASE STUDY DISCUSSION
1. Thinking ahead a year or two, and given what you know about health care reform from the various chapters of this text, what do you anticipate may be the two most significant positive impacts of health reform and what are likely to be its two most serious problems?
2. Again, drawing on information throughout the text, what are some of your best ideas to improve quality and contain costs going forward?
CASE STUDY #2
You have taken an analyst’s position at the federal Department of Health and Human Services. The 2010 health law reform is expected to increase insurance coverage for a significant number of Americans. But many problems in the health care system remain unresolved. Write a 1-page memorandum to your new supervisor describing what you believe are the most important of these, saying why they are important and suggesting how they might be approached. This is the same challenge you were presented in Chapter 1. Please consider how your responses then have been reinforced or changed by what you have learned in the intervening chapters and discussion.
