LE003 Assessment Instructions

Review the details of your assessment including the rubric. You will have the ability to submit the assessment once you submit your required pre-assessments and engage with your Faculty Subject Matter Expert (SME) in a substantive way about the competency.

Overview

This Performance Task Assessment is based on a case study set in Brooklyn Presbyterian Hospital, in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, as the hospital confronts the new quality standards set by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) for Medicare patients. To complete this Assessment, read the scenario below, and then complete Parts I and II that follow. You will use information from the scenario, along with the supporting documents, to demonstrate your ability to adapt internal policies and practices to align with changes to healthcare laws and regulations.

To complete this Assessment:

• Download the Academic Writing Expectations Checklist to use as a guide when completing your Assessment. Responses that do not meet the expectations of scholarly writing will be returned without scoring. Properly formatted APA citations and references must be provided, where appropriate.
• Be sure to use scholarly academic resources as specified in the rubric. This means using Walden Library databases to obtain peer reviewed articles. Additionally, .gov (government expert sources) are a quality resource option. Note: Internet and .com sources do not meet this requirement. Contact your coach or SME for guidance on using Library Databases.
• Carefully review the rubric for the Assessment as part of your preparation to complete your Assessment work.

This Assessment requires submission of one (1) document (Part I) and one (1) Slide presentation (Part II).

• Save the Word document as LE003_PartI_firstinitial_lastname (for example, LE003_PartI_J_Smith).
• Save the slide presentation as LE003_PartII_firstinitial_lastname (for example, LE003_PartII_J_Smith).

When you are ready to upload your completed Assessment, use the Assessment tab on the top navigation menu.

Instructions

Imagine you are an administrator at Brooklyn Presbyterian Hospital in Brooklyn. One day you arrive at work to find an urgent memo from your CEO: Medicare has released its data on unplanned 30-day hospital readmission rates, and your hospital is being penalized at the maximum rate for having an exceptionally high rate of unplanned 30-day readmissions. Alarmed by these statistics, your CEO gives you a special project, outlined in Part I and Part II below.

Access the following to complete this Assessment:

• Brooklyn Presbyterian Hospital Acute Inpatient Hospital Admissions Payment Policy
• Brooklyn Presbyterian Hospital—Unplanned Readmission Rates (from Medicare Hospital Compare)
• Gai, Y., & Pachamanova, D. (2019). Impact of the Medicare hospital readmissions reduction program on vulnerable populations. BMC Health Services Research, 19(1), 1. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
• Academic Writing Expectations Checklist

Rubric

This assessment has two-parts. Click each of the items below to complete this assessment.

Part I: Analyzing HRRP Policy and Evaluating Hospital Performance

• Read the Health Affairs Policy Brief on the “Medicare Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program.” Then, analyze the document “Brooklyn Presbyterian Hospital—Unplanned Readmission Rates,” which presents statistics on the unplanned readmission rates at the hospital and how they compare to the national averages. Also, review the “Acute Inpatient Hospital Admissions Payment Policy” document.
• Use these resources to develop a report (4–5 pages) to the CEO that completes the following:
  • Describe the key elements of the Medicare Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) established in the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
  • Explain whether you think HRRP has a positive or negative impact on Brooklyn Presbyterian Hospital’s delivery of care and explain the rationale for your opinion.
  • Identify two factors at Brooklyn Presbyterian Hospital based on the statistical report of Brooklyn Presbyterian Hospital’s unplanned readmission rates that contribute to the risk of failing to meet HRRP criteria. Use additional ideas related to HRRP policies.
  • Create five SMART goals for Brooklyn Presbyterian Hospital for earning the maximum reimbursement by following the HRRP criteria. These goals may focus on processes or outcomes.
  • Describe at least three programs or activities based on the SMART goals you created that would help the hospital increase reimbursement under HRRP by reducing readmission rates.

Part II: Developing an Action Plan in a slide presentation to Maximize Reimbursements and Adapt to Change

• Political pressure will result in changes to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) policy and reimbursements. Develop a 10- to 12-slide presentation, to senior management, proposing strategies for executing a plan for earning maximum reimbursement under HRRP, specifically by changing the behavior of providers and patients. Your goal is to secure resources to put your plan into action. In this presentation, explain your approach, your plan for implementation, at least two ways you will prepare and monitor for change in CMS policy, and your education plan for staff.

LE004 Assessment Instructions

Review the details of your assessment including the rubric. You will have the ability to submit the assessment once you completed all of the related pre-assessments and engage with your Faculty Subject Matter Expert (SME) in a substantive way about the competency.

Overview

In this Assessment, you will conduct an analysis of a health policy from the many diverse stakeholder perspectives involved.

To complete this Assessment:

• Download the Academic Writing Expectations Checklist to use as a guide when completing your Assessment. Responses that do not meet the expectations of scholarly writing will be returned without scoring. Properly formatted APA citations and references must be provided, where appropriate.
• Be sure to use scholarly academic resources as specified in the rubric. This means using Walden Library databases to obtain peer reviewed articles. Additionally, .gov (government expert sources) are a quality resource option.
  Note: Internet and .com sources do not meet this requirement. Contact your coach or SME for guidance on using Library Databases.
• Carefully review the rubric for the Assessment as part of your preparation to complete your Assessment work.

Instructions

Access the following to complete this Assessment:

• Academic Writing Expectations Checklist

Before submitting your Assessment, carefully review the rubric. This is the same rubric the assessor will use to evaluate your submission and it provides detailed criteria describing how to achieve or master the Competency. Many students find that understanding the requirements of the Assessment and the rubric criteria help them direct their focus and use their time most productively.

To complete the Work Product Assessment, you will select a recent (within the last 15 years) national or state health policy that has had substantial impact on healthcare consumers. Specifically, you will be looking at a high-impact health policy to analyze the diverse and divergent perspectives that informed its development and then assess its impact at the local organizational level.

Rubric

This Assessment requires submission of one (1) document that includes your responses to both prompts Save this file as LE004_firstinitial_lastname (for example, LE004_J_Smith).

When you are ready to upload your completed Assessment, use the Assessment tab on the top navigation menu.

Detailed and current information on health policy may be found on many websites, including those of:

• Healthy People 2020 – 2030
• American Hospital Association (AHA)
• Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
• The Kaiser Family Foundation
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)
• AARP: Public Policy Institute
• American Public Health Association (APHA)

Note: You may not choose HRRP as a topic as this is covered in a previous assessment.

After choosing a health policy, select a local healthcare organization that is impacted by that policy. This might be a public agency, a healthcare facility, or any organization substantially influenced by the policy. It might also be the healthcare organization in which you work. You will evaluate the impact of the policy on the organization’s operations and outcomes. You will also write a letter to a policymaker who has influence over the action of the policy. This task requires you to take a large and complex topic (the policy) and synthesize it into digestible information that can be used to inform the policymaker of issues raised by the policy.

This assessment has two-parts. Click each of the items below to complete this assessment.

Part 1: Policy Assessment

• In a 5- to 7-page report:
  1. Provide the name of the policy and clearly explain the issue addressed by the policy.
  2. Explain the background of the policy’s formulation – what is the purpose of the policy?
  3. Explain the role and diverse perspectives of various government agencies and officials, including public health agencies, in the evolution, formulation, and implementation of the policy.
  4. Determine the ongoing role of law and regulation in the evolution, formulation, and implementation of the policy.
  5. Describe key national or state stakeholders involved in the evolution of the policy.
  6. Categorize which of the stakeholders would be considered advocacy groups and which would be classified as business interests. Explain how you differentiate the two categories and why this differentiation matters.
  7. Identify how key local organizations and stakeholders are impacted by this policy.
  8. Explain the overarching diverse perspectives of the local organizations and stakeholders with regard to the policy.

Part 2: Letter to a Policy Maker

• Identify a policymaker who is a member of the U.S. Congress from your state of residence. If you are from a territory, you will identify the equivalent legislative person. If you are an international student, you may choose any person who is responsible for enacting healthcare policies or laws in your area. You will write a letter to the policymaker that focuses on the policy and organizations or communities it may impact, in support of or opposition to the issue you selected. Your letter should be written in a respectful tone and focus on the evidence supporting your position, instead of merely expressing your personal thoughts and opinions. You must also provide evidence from the peer-reviewed literature to support your position. The letter should use a professional letter format, including salutation and address.
• In a 1- to 2-page letter:
  • Explain the relevance of the health policy to an organization or your community.
  • Describe the expected impact of the policy on organizational or community outcomes.