Walden – NURS 8100 Week 5: Economic and Technological Influences on Policy

NURS 8100 Healthcare Policy and Advocacy

NURS 8100 Week 5: Economic and Technological Influences on Policy

Economic factors have long been a key driver of health care policy and reform efforts. As noted in previous weeks, for instance, health policies have attempted to improve the situation for millions of uninsured or underinsured individuals and to address the barriers to health care access that have arisen as a result of the high costs associated with insurance and health service delivery. Economic and Technological Influences on Policy Discussion.

This week, you will examine how economics influences health policy and health care reform efforts. You will explore cost containment strategies from increasing administrative efficiency to health care rationing and the role of technology in health care reform and cost control efforts.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Evaluate the use of technology to achieve health care reform and cost containment goals
• Analyze the economic consequences of a health care policy

Learning Resources

Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus. NURS 8100: Economic and Technological Influences on Policy assignment discussion.

Required Readings

Bodenheimer, T., & Grumbach, K. (2016). Understanding health policy: A clinical approach (7th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Medical.

• Chapter 8, “Painful Versus Painless Cost Control”Chapter 8 focuses on the relationship between health care costs and health outcomes and its importance on the health policy agenda. This chapter also presents strategies for effectively utilizing resources as opposed to rationing health care services.
• Chapter 9, “Mechanisms for Controlling Costs”Chapter 9 examines an array of policies aimed at controlling health care costs and reviews specific financial and reimbursement cost containment methods to health outcomes.

Buntin, M., Jain, S., & Blumenthal, D. (2010). Health information technology: Laying the infrastructure for national health reform. Health Affairs, 29(6), 1214–1219. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2010.0503

Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.

In this article, the authors examine the role of health information technology as a major component in the restructuring of health care. They suggest it will improve quality, reduce costs, and allow for seamless access to data across providers.

Margolius, D., & Bodenheimer, T. (2010). Transforming primary care: From past practice to the practice of the future. Health Affairs, 29(5).

Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.

The authors propose a primary care practice of the future in which physicians act as leaders of a team of health care professionals. Reimbursement would shift from a pay-per-service model to a comprehensive model that incorporates both a standardized payment per patient and performance pay based on improved patient health outcomes.

Maxson, E., Jain, S., McKethan, A., Brammer, C., Buntin, M., Cronin, K., … Blumenthal, D. (2010). Beacon communities aim to use health information technology to transform the delivery of care. Health Affairs, 29(9), 1671–1677. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2010.0577

Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.

Monheit, A., Cantor, J., DeLia, D., & Belloff, D. (2011). How have state policies to expand dependent coverage affected the health insurance status of young adults? Health Services Research, 46(1), 251- 267.

Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.

Young adults (19-29 years of age) are one of the highest uninsured segments of U.S. population. Some states have mandated extended dependent coverage; however, the study presented in this article depicts little effect on uninsured rates. The authors suggest that the PPACA 2010 provision mandating expanded dependent coverage will have better success because more health plans will be involved in the mandate.

Rosenthal, M., Beckman, H., Forrest, D., Huang, E., Landon, B., & Lewis, S. (2010). Will the patient-centered medical home improve efficiency and reduce costs for care? A measurement and research agenda. Medical Care Research & Review, 67(4), 476–484.

Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.

This article discusses the use of Patient-Centered Medical Homes (PCMHs) as a cost containment strategy. The authors maintain that credible research needs to be conducted to evaluate the actual results.

Steuerle, C. E., & Bovbjerg, R. R. (2008). Health and budget reform as handmaidens. Health Affairs, 27(3), 633–644.

Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.

Wilensky, G. (2010). Health economics. Information Knowledge Systems Management, 8, 179–193.

Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases. NURS 8100: Technology and Cost Containment essay assignment discussion.

Required Media

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2011). Healthcare policy and advocacy: Cost containment. Baltimore: Author.

Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 13 minutes.

In this media presentation, Dr. Gerald Kominski and Dr. Walter Zelman discuss the challenges policy makers face in containing health care expenditures and costs.