Ethical Issues Related to Managed Care

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Module 02 Written Assignment – Ethical Issues Related to Managed Care

Throughout this week, you read about managed care and third-party payers, the basic components of insurance.
Up until recent years the only options for the uninsured, if they qualified for it, were Medicare and Medicaid. With the passage of the Affordable Care Act, the landscape of insurance is changing.
For this week’s written assignment, read the following article:
Hamel, M.B., Blumenthal, D., Abrams, M., & Nuzum, R. (2015). The Affordable Care Act at 5 years. The New England Journal of Medicine, 372, 2451-2458. Retrieved from http://www.nejm.org
After reading the article, answer the following questions:
What are your initial thoughts from the article?
How do you think the Affordable Care Act improves health care for Americans?
Who do you think will benefit the most from the Affordable Care Act? Why?
Why are some states slower to participate than others?
If you could create a healthcare plan for the United States, what would it include, who would be covered?

What would the implications of diversity-based policy development be in relation to healthcare needs?

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Women and Healthcare

Women have healthcare requirements in addition to those of men because of their biology and gender roles. Due to their gender roles, they are frequently responsible for the health and healthcare of others. The resources they need to care for others may create constraints on their ability to care for themselves.

Also, it is important to consider the workplace when considering women’s health issues because the position of women in the workforce has great impact on the healthcare they receive. Many businesses have recognized the need to create a more diverse workforce by selective hiring based on the need to increase selected groups in their workforce. Some businesses have been more proactive than others. For example, let’s consider that a business workforce’s diversity plan includes the following benchmarks:

  • Maintain women’s representation at a minimum of 60 percent.
  • Increase women’s representation in nontraditional occupations from 16 percent to 20 percent.
  • Increase women’s representation in senior positions (grade twelve and above or equivalent) from 28 percent to 35 percent.

On the basis of what you have learned so far, answer the following questions:

  • How can the dimensions of diversity, such as age, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and religion affect individual or collective healthcare needs and capabilities?
  • Could the above statements constitute discriminatory hiring practices? Why or why not?
  • What would the implications of diversity-based policy development be in relation to healthcare needs?
  • Describe a workforce diversity plan using at least three dimensions of diversity. Additionally, explain how it relates to improved health-service delivery.

 

article:

Sutton, M. (2000). Cultural competence: It’s not just

political correctness, it’s good medicine.

Family Practice Management, 7(9), 58–60.

Discuss other professions, aside from health care and education that could benefit from the application of some of the technologies discussed in this case

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Medicine Through Videoconferencing

 

Read the Real World Case 3: Brain Saving Technologies, Inc. and the T-Health Institute: Medicine through Videoconferencing (pp. 236-237).

 

In a three- to five-page paper (not including the title page or reference page), respond to the following:

 

  1. From the perspective of the patient, explain how you would feel about being diagnosed by a doctor who could be hundreds or thousands of miles from you. Describe any expectations or concerns you would have about that kind of experience.
  2. Discuss other professions, aside from health care and education that could benefit from the application of some of the technologies discussed in this case. Explain how they would derive business value from these projects. Develop two proposals in different professional settings.
  3. The deployment of IT in health professions is still very much in its infancy. Discuss other uses of technology that could potentially improve the quality of health care. Compose a list of at least three alternatives.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of microbes, vis-à-vis destructive “hardware” such as guns and bombs?

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Last week (in March 2015), your Course Developer had a routine appointment with his doctor, and was asked a non-routine question: “Have you been out of the country during the past 21 days?” I immediately knew why I’d been asked; Ebola, in West Africa. The world is now so small that even such a faraway threat cannot be dismissed as trivial.

What experiences have you had, with one or more procedures intended to stop the spread of disease? These could be things like (1) vaccinations you otherwise wouldn’t have taken, (2) areas you couldn’t visit, (2) fruit, vegetables and foodstuffs you couldn’t bring home, (4) intrusive questions by border control officials, or (5) etc. Tell us about them.

But again, this isn’t just a trip down Memory Lane. Please do some research. In addition to discussing the personal effects (if any) of what you experienced, tell us something about its history and rationale. Take, for example, a mandatory vaccination. Is it effective? Is it safe? Is it controversial? Did you perceive it as an infringement upon your right to privacy, or to manage your own health? Explain. (NO MORE THAN TWO PARAGRAPHS)

PART 2 Based upon your reading of the Background materials, and your own additional research, prepare an essay discussing the use of infectious disease as a weapon of international terror. You should address the following questions: •What are the advantages and disadvantages of microbes, vis-à-vis destructive “hardware” such as guns and bombs? •What would be the characteristics of an ideal “weapon bug?” Things to consider: ◦Vector (i.e., carried by people, animals, in foodstuff, on other goods?) ◦Lethality ◦Transmissibility (ease with which it is spread) ◦Mode of transmission (airborne, direct contact, indirect contact) ◦Arrival mode (airplane, ship, on foot) ◦Based upon the above, select an organism. Explain your selection. ◦Describe the most effective countermeasures. ◦What precautions, if any, should logistics companies take, in addition to those prescribed by government regulation? Explain.

Make full use of sources.