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HCM 320: Final Project Guidelines and Grading Guide   Overview The final project for this course is the creation of a mock open comment to a significant federal legislation that has affected healthcare or the healthcare industry

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HCM 320: Final Project Guidelines and Grading Guide

 

Overview

The final project for this course is the creation of a mock open comment to a significant federal legislation that has affected healthcare or the healthcare industry. An open comment is an informed opinion written in the form of a letter to counsel authors of legislation on the perceived benefits and consequences of the opinion. You will select a key issue affecting health and healthcare in the United States from the topic areas as defined by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and identify a corresponding health policy addressing that issue. This mock open comment will examine the macroeconomic forces at play in a recent healthcare policy and determine whether any forces were inadequately considered. The mock open comment should be nonpartisan, stakeholder agnostic, and supported by research from reputed sources. The final submission will correspond to the Purdue University method of organization for white papers as indicated on its Online Writing Lab (OWL).

 

The final project will be broken down into three separate components: submission of an executive summary with references, the open comment paper, and a five-minute 'TED Talk-style' presentation.

 

The project is divided into three milestones, which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality final submissions. These milestones will be submitted in Modules Two, Four, and Five. The final project will be submitted in Module Seven.

 

In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:

 

• Assess the strategic and operational use of economic principles and indicators to manipulate the healthcare experience for patients and their caregivers
• Articulate the effects of contemporary policies and regulations on the American healthcare system and the healthcare consumer
• Describe the impact of prominent financial models in healthcare on the strategies of market players
• Distinguish the influence of socioeconomic factors of American society on the healthcare delivery system and community health
• Analyze ways that behavioral models of demanders, suppliers, and other healthcare agencies influence economic determinates and barriers to change in the American healthcare system

 

Prompt

After choosing a topic area from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's topic areas, you will create a comment letter addressing the abilities and inabilities of a legislative action to impact the economic forces impacting the issue. The policy you select to evaluate should affect a health topic in which you have an interest, or one that affects a population of significance to you. While your submission will center on a pivotal piece of legislation, this is not a policy paper. Focus on how the legislation would affect the key health issue and the macroeconomic forces that produced the issue.

 

The TED Talk-style portion of your project should start by making your audience care, using a relatable example or an intriguing idea explained clearly and with conviction. Describe your evidence and how and why your idea could be implemented, and conclude by addressing how your idea could affect your audience if they were to accept it. Further guidelines to preparing a good TED Talk are provided at the following link: TEDx Speaker Guide.

 

Your letter, as well as the corresponding 'TED-style' video presentation, will address the following critical elements:

 

1. Outline of Open Comment Letter with References

1. Based on the chosen key issue affecting health status, select a significant piece of federal legislation to analyze and explain how the federal legislation will address the issue.
2. Elaborate on the macroeconomic market forces at play that necessitated the piece of legislation.
3. Define the intended consequences of the legislation (i.e., to protect a vulnerable population, affect the value proposition of the health system, etc.)
4. Conduct a review of current resources (articles, websites, interviews, etc.) related to the tenets of the legislation.
5. Select the resources that most appropriately and concisely examine the legislation's macro- and microeconomic impact and cite them according to APA citation guidelines.
6. Assess the point of view demonstrated in each resource and analyze the microeconomic mechanisms that will influence the behaviors of providers, insurers, vendors, and the population as a whole.

2. Open Comment Letter

1. Describe how the intended consequences of the legislation will positively and/or negatively impact the key health issue that it is tasked to affect once applied to a realistic environment.
2. Differentiate between the manner in which the major tenets of the legislation would be interpreted by a health economist, health practitioner, and/or consumer of healthcare services.
3. Summarize the logical interpretations of the legislation in a document with a member of Congress as the proposed audience.
4. Hypothesize the outcomes of the legislation in a document with a member of Congress as the proposed audience.
5. Decide whether the key health issue is being served by creating or subduing supply, demand, or cost of healthcare services and which stakeholder group (providers, consumers, or payors) bears the primary responsibility for its implementation.
6. Discern to what extent the legislation will impact the reimbursement and/or financial health of providers operating as for-profit, nonprofit, military, or government-sponsored care financing models.
7. Propose changes to the legislation that could be adopted to further affect socioeconomic determinants of health such as poverty, education, and diversity.
8. Propose what tactics could be implemented to ensure that the initial intent of the legislation could be safeguarded against perversion by macroeconomic forces and agents looking to exploit those forces to their advantage.

3. TED Talk

1. Passionately deliver your exposition to an audience of thought leaders, legislators, and stakeholders via a recorded web conference.
2. Create an innovative introduction that makes the audience care, using a relatable example or an intriguing idea.
3. Create the body of the talk that will describe your evidence and how and why your suggestions could be implemented.
4. Create the closing of the talk that will address how your idea could affect your audience if they were to accept what has been presented.

 

Milestones

Milestone One: Outline of Open Comment Letter with References

In Module Two, you will submit an outline of your open comment letter with references. Choose a topic area from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's topic areas and then search journals, interview clips, and websites to find a piece of legislation that addresses the issue. Compile your sources and create a bibliography using APA style for listing citations. Digest the content of the legislation and complete a preliminary macroeconomic analysis of its intended impact. Provide an outline, which will serve as an overview of everything you learned from your research of the health issue and your preliminary recommendations for the legislation. This deliverable should be no more than two pages in length. It should help the reader understand why you chose the health issue at hand, how the legislation will affect it, what economic concepts and factors are at play, and what the implications of your findings are. This milestone is graded with the Milestone One Rubric.

 

Milestone Two: Open Comment Letter Draft

In Module Four, you will submit a first draft of your open comment letter. An open comment is an informed opinion written in the form of a letter to counsel authors of legislation on the perceived benefits and consequences of the opinion. It should include background on the key health issue and your assumption of the risks inferred by the legislative action (i.e., unintended consequences, public reaction, loopholes, etc.). The economic analysis should be more complete than that of your executive summary, taking into account the nature of the U.S. healthcare system, socioeconomic factors, behavioral models of stakeholders that shape interpretations and outcomes. The document should not be based solely on emotion, though it should not be divorced of sentiment as it needs to rouse the proper energy needed to effect change. The goal of the document is to convince the reader that your suggestions for inclusion, exclusion, and adaptations to the legislation should be included in the final version of the action. It should be no more than five pages, not including references and supporting appendices. This milestone is graded with the Milestone Two Rubric.

 

Milestone Three: TED Talking Points

In Module Five, you will submit a bulleted list of the points you will speak to in your TED-style presentation. A TED Talk is a short audiovisual presentation that espouses new ideas supported by concrete evidence, delivered by engaging, charismatic speakers. Your presentation should clarify the major points of the key health issue and the legislation, but moreover it should deeply explore why this topic is important to you and how the intended results will impact you or the population you hold dear. The talk should be no more than five minutes. This milestone is graded with the Milestone Three Rubric.

 

Final Project Submission: Open Comment Letter and TED talk

In Module Seven, you will submit the final version of your open comment letter along with the final version of your TED talk. This submission is graded with the Final Project Rubric (embedded below).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deliverable Milestones

Milestone	Deliverables	Module Due	Grading
1	Milestone One: Outline of Open Comment Letter with References	Two	Graded separately; Milestone One Rubric
2	Milestone Two: Open Comment Letter Draft	Four	Graded separately; Milestone Two Rubric
3	Milestone Three: TED Talking Points	Five	Graded separately; Milestone Three Rubric
	Final Project: Open Comment Letter and TED Talk	Seven	Graded separately; Final Project Rubric (embedded below)

 

 

Rubric

Guidelines for Submission: The open comment letter portion of your project must follow these formatting guidelines: 6–8 pages in length not including cover page and resources, double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, and discipline-appropriate citations. The TED Talk portion of your project should be no more than five minutes in length.

 

Critical Elements	Exemplary (100%)	Proficient (85%)	Needs Improvement (55%)	Not Evident (0%)	Value
Outline: Significant Piece of Legislation	Meets “Proficient” criteria and uses specific, relevant examples to highlight the piece of federal legislation chosen	Selects a significant piece of federal legislation to analyze and explains how the federal legislation will address the issue	Selects a significant piece of federal legislation but does not explain how the federal legislation will address the issue	Does not select a significant piece of federal legislation to analyze or explain how the federal legislation will address the issue	4
Outline: Market Forces	Meets “Proficient” criteria and problems are exceptionally elaborated and articulated	Elaborates on the macroeconomic market forces at play that necessitated the piece of legislation	Elaborates on the macroeconomic market forces at play but does not adequately explain how these forces necessitated the piece of legislation	Does not elaborate on the macroeconomic market forces at play that necessitated the piece of legislation	4
Outline: Consequences of Legislation	Meets “Proficient” criteria and definition includes extensive background information beyond basic facts	Defines the intended consequences of the legislation (i.e., to protect a vulnerable population, affect the value proposition of the health system, etc.)	Defines the intended consequences of the legislation but definition does not provide sufficient detail	Does not define the intended consequences of the legislation	4
Outline: Current Resources	Meets “Proficient” criteria and provides a detailed summary of clear and relevant resources	Conducts a review of current resources (articles, websites, interviews, etc.) related to the tenets of the legislation	Conducts a review of current resources but resources do not relate to the tenets of the legislation	Does not conduct a review of current resources related to the tenets of the legislation	4
Outline: Macro- and Microeconomic Impact	Meets “Proficient” criteria and evaluates the resources against the general scholarship within the field	Selects the resources that most appropriately and concisely examine the legislation's macro- and microeconomic impact	Selects resources that examine the legislation's macro- and microeconomic impact but resources selected are inappropriate or not concise	Does not select resources that examine the legislation's macro- and microeconomic impact	4
Outline: Resource Point of View	Meets the “Proficient” criteria and provides concrete examples of points-of-view demonstrated	Assesses the point of view demonstrated in each resource, analyzing the microeconomic mechanisms that will influence the behaviors of providers, insurers, vendors, and the population as a whole	Assesses the point of view demonstrated in each resource but does not sufficiently analyze the microeconomic mechanisms that will influence the behaviors of providers, insurers, vendors, and the population as a whole	Does not assess the point of view demonstrated in each resource	4
Open Comment Letter: Impact	Meets “Proficient” criteria and is well qualified using specific scholarly examples	Describes how the intended consequences of the legislation will positively and/or negatively impact the key health issue that it is tasked to affect once applied to a realistic environment	Describes how the intended consequences of the legislation will positively and/or negatively impact the key health issue but description is not substantiated by secondary sources	Does not describe how the intended consequences of the legislation will positively and/or negatively impact the key health issue	6
Open Comment Letter: Interpretation of Major Tenets	Meets "Proficient" criteria and differentiation is rooted in appropriate analysis	Differentiates between the manner in which the major tenets of the legislation would be interpreted by a health economist, health practitioner, and/or consumer of healthcare services	Differentiates between the manner in which the major tenets of the legislation would be interpreted but analysis is lacking in detail	Does not differentiate between the manner in which the major tenets of the legislation would be interpreted	6
Open Comment Letter: Summary of Interpretations	Meets “Proficient” criteria and summary provides specific, persuasive examples	Summarizes the logical interpretations of the legislation in a document with a member of Congress as the proposed audience	Summarizes the logical interpretations of the legislation but does not justify summary with research	Does not summarize the logical interpretations of the legislation	6
Open Comment Letter: Outcomes	Meets “Proficient” criteria and hypothesis provides specific examples of possible outcomes based on research	Hypothesizes the outcomes of the legislation in a document with a member of Congress as the proposed audience	Hypothesizes the outcomes of the legislation but does not provide specific examples based on research	Does not hypothesize the outcomes of the legislation	6
Open Comment Letter: Key Health Issue	Meets “Proficient” criteria and analysis aligns with industry practices	Analyzes whether the key health issue is being served by creating or subduing supply, demand, or cost of healthcare services and which stakeholder group (providers, consumers, or payors) bears the primary responsibility for its implementation	Analyzes whether the key health issue is being served but does not identify which stakeholder group bears the primary responsibility for its implementation	Does not analyze whether the key health issue is being served	6
Open Comment Letter: Impact of Legislation	Meets “Proficient” criteria and provides specific, persuasive examples of the legislation's impact	Explains to what extent the legislation will impact the reimbursement and/or financial health of providers operating as for-profit, nonprofit, military, or government-sponsored care financing models	Explains the impact of the legislation, but does not sufficiently analyze to what extent the legislation will impact the reimbursement and/or financial health of providers operating as for-profit, nonprofit, military, or government-sponsored care financing models	Does not explain the impact of the legislation	6
Open Comment Letter: Proposed Legislative Changes	Meets “Proficient” criteria and provides relevant examples of proposed changes supported by research	Proposes changes to the legislation that could be adopted to further affect socioeconomic determinants of health such as poverty, education, and diversity	Proposes changes to the legislation but changes proposed are not relevant to further affect socioeconomic determinants of health such as poverty, education, and diversity	Does not propose changes to the legislation that could be adopted to further affect socioeconomic determinants of health such as poverty, education, and diversity	6
Open Comment Letter: Tactics to Safeguard Legislation	Meets “Proficient” criteria and provides clear and relevant examples of proposed tactics	Proposes tactics that could be implemented to ensure initial intent of the legislation could be safeguarded against perversion by macroeconomic forces and agents looking to exploit those forces to their advantage	Proposes tactics that could be implemented but does not provide clear or relevant examples of proposed tactics	Does not propose tactics that could be implemented	6
TED Talk: Delivery	Meets “Proficient” criteria and delivery is passionate and provides unique suggestions	Delivers exposition to an audience of thought leaders, legislators, and stakeholders via a recorded web conference	Delivers exposition but delivery is lacking in enthusiasm or does not provide unique suggestions	Does not deliver an exposition	6
TED Talk: Introduction	Meets “Proficient” criteria and introduction supports reasoning with clear and relevant verbal and visual examples	Creates an innovative introduction that makes the audience care, using a relatable example or an intriguing idea	Creates an introduction but introduction is not innovative or does not use a relatable example or an intriguing idea	Does not create an introduction	6
TED Talk: Body	Meets “Proficient Criteria” and provides unique suggestions	Creates the body of the talk that describes the evidence and how and why the suggestions could be implemented	Creates the body of the talk but does not describe the evidence and how and why the suggestions could be implemented	Does not create the body of the talk	6
TED Talk: Closing	Meets “Proficient” criteria and presentation provides inspiring ideas to conclude the presentation	Creates the closing of the talk addressing how the idea could affect the audience if it were to accept what has been presented	Creates the closing of the talk but does not sufficiently address how the idea could affect the audience if it were to accept what has been presented	Does not create the closing of the talk	6
Articulation of Response	Submission is free of errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, and organization and is presented in a professional and easy-to-read format	Submission has no major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization	Submission has major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that negatively impact readability and articulation of main ideas	Submission has critical errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that prevent understanding of ideas	4
Earned Total					100%