Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

How Medical Cannabis Took Root In Mississippi, Loral Winn

Honors Theses

How Medical Cannabis Took Root in Mississippi

(Under the direction of Dr. Iveta Imre)

How Medical Cannabis Took Root in Mississippi is a multimedia journalism piece that follows the timeline of medical cannabis’ legalization in Mississippi through the lives and lenses of characters from each sector of the medical marijuana industry. Written in a journalistic style with hints of narrative methods, the article tells the story of medical cannabis advocates, current patients, state registered practitioners, dispensary owners and employees, and a family-owned cultivation facility while also providing concrete evidence and facts about the legislation and regulations included in the state’s …

A Realistic Path Towards A More Affordable Healthcare System For The United States, James Loome

Honors Theses

This study was performed in order to try to discover ways in which the American healthcare system can improve and become more affordable for its citizens. The main focus was to see how implementing a universal healthcare system could benefit the United States. I analyzed aspects of many different universal healthcare system structures and chose aspects that I think should or should not be included in a revised version of the US healthcare system. There was a strong focus on the aspects of Japan and Costa Rica’s healthcare systems. I also pointed out weaknesses in the US healthcare system that …

A Content Analysis Of Media Coverage Of Telehealth In Mississippi, Hailey Layne

Honors Theses

Telehealth’s utilization within healthcare has expanded and changed areas of healthcare delivery. In rural states like Mississippi barriers to accessing healthcare services exist due to demographic factors, socioeconomic factors, or geographic distance. This study was meant to look at the literature related to telehealth that was being disseminated to Mississippians through online news sources. It was noted whether these articles viewed telehealth utilization in a positive or negative way. Utilizing a cross-sectional media analysis, the news articles were screened using a coding form that acknowledged different themes in the literature. Frequency analyses were conducted to aid in interpreting the common …

The Impact Of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms On Cortisol Receptor Activity In Populations With Obesity, Cassidy Michalicka

Honors Theses

Cortisol is a crucial part of the endocrine system; it has the capacity to affect nearly every organ and tissue in the human body. When functioning correctly, cortisol is known to regulate the body’s stress response, control metabolism, suppress inflammation, regulate blood pressure, regulate blood sugar, regulate our body’s circadian rhythm, and much more. When the concentration of cortisol in the blood is elevated for an excessive period, the body responds with symptoms such as hyperglycemia, hypertension, weight gain, and moon face. Commonly this is known as Cushing’s Syndrome (CS), and interestingly, we have seen a phenotypic resemblance when contrasted …

Egypt’S Pediatric Oncology Hospital 57357: A Case Study Analysis, Ashley A. Clegg

Honors Theses

Hospital 57357 is the foremost pediatric oncology hospital in Egypt and provides treatment free of charge to children with cancer. Since its establishment in 2007, the hospital has grown to a capacity of 380 patient beds across three locations. Its quest for continuous improvement led to the development of a new performance management system emphasizing the tracking and measurement of a multitude of Key Performance Indicators across all departments. While this new system enables objective and perpetual monitoring of key patient care metrics, its integration into the existing structure introduces challenges that must be addressed. To analyze the external environment …

Environmental Racism In Baltimore: A Geographical Study Into The Connections Between Environmental Toxins And Public Health, Genevieve Block

Honors Theses

An investigation into the relationship between environmental toxins and environmental racism in Baltimore City, Maryland.

Female Infertility In The United States And India: An Analysis Of Treatment Barriers And Coping Strategies, Devneet Singh

Honors Theses

This research studies barriers to accessing fertility treatment in the United States (U.S.) and India, as well as the coping strategies infertile women use. Barriers include reproductive health knowledge, cost, and politics, while coping is affected by cultural stigma, family, and religion. These two countries were chosen for their different cultural contexts, healthcare systems, and political infrastructure. Ten fertility specialists across both countries were interviewed as expert informants. Reproductive health knowledge was the most important barrier to accessing care in both countries, with similar gaps in understanding when and what type of care to utilize, though social media can educate …

Health Insurance And The Undocumented Immigrant, Anja Diercks

Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to perform a comparative analysis on how seven different countries (USA, South Africa, Germany, England, Canada, France and Singapore) organize their healthcare system to cope with the issue of undocumented immigrants and whether or not these systems in place were “fair.” The thesis will also explore the possible ways the United States could change to be more inclusive and fairer in the world of healthcare and health insurance for the undocumented immigrant. A study on what fairness means both in ethical and economical terms is done to suggest a new basis of a fair …

Identifying Observation Unit As Best Practice, Justin Abraham

Honors Theses

The rising demand for acute care is attributable to several factors, including poor access to unscheduled primary care and an aging population with complex chronic illnesses which place an increasing demand on crowded ED and hospitals in the United States (American College of Emergency Physicians, 2009). Observation (OBS) services are provided to patients with an acute clinical condition whose need for acute care hospitalization is unclear after their initial evaluation and management. Center for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) define hospital observation as those services that are reasonable and necessary to evaluate the outpatient's condition whose need for the patient to …

How Did Medicaid Expansion Affect The Provider Labor Market?, Aaron Wu

Honors Theses

One provision of the Affordable Care Act was to expand Medicaid eligibility for a greater number of low-income patients. The resulting increase in demand for care was largely explored, but the effect of the 2014 Medicaid expansion on the physician and advanced practitioner labor market has not been well researched by economists. Using pooled cross-sectional data from the 2010 – 2018 American Community Surveys, this paper examines whether the Medicaid expansion has caused notable changes in physician, physician assistant, and nurse practitioner hours, compensation, and overall employment. The literature shows that practices that employ nurse practitioners are far more likely …

An Analysis Of Patients Undergoing Hip And Knee Arthroplasties In An Accountable Care Organization, Harjot Uppal

Honors Theses

Background. Total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA) are commonly performed procedures, with over one million executed each year in the United States (U.S.) (Steiner et al., 2012). By 2030, THA and TKA are projected to become the most frequently performed elective surgical procedures in the U.S. (Cram et al., 2012; Kurtz et al., 2009). Many of the previous studies on THA and TKA procedures have focused on women, primarily because they are at increased risks of developing knee osteoarthritis and sustaining hip fractures (Cummings et al., 1990; Hedlund et al., 1987; Hinton et al., 1995; Myers et …

Medicaid Work Requirements: State-Based Innovation Or Punitive Policymaking?, Diane Sherwin

Honors Theses

In March 2017, officials appointed to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services by President Donald Trump signaled to state governments their intent to support states who would choose to utilize Medicaid’s Section 1115 waiver provision to alter their state’s Medicaid program by introducing a work requirement. As of October 1, 2018, 13 states have heeded this signal and proposed a work requirement component for their Medicaid programs. The purpose of this paper is to determine if Medicaid work requirements are an innovative policy approach to improve independence among Medicaid enrollees, or if these requirements are a punitive, partisan approach …

Determining The Effects Of Hospital Consolidation: An Examination Of The Impact Of Hospital M&A On Financial And Quality Metrics, Hailey Perry

Honors Theses

The modern explosion of M&A activity in the United States has generated significant controversy and advocates both for and against hospital consolidation have been quite vocal in presenting their cases. Using mergers and acquisitions reports from Irving Levin Associates as well as financial and quality metrics from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the American Hospital Directory, this study examines the differences between consolidated and unconsolidated hospitals in terms of overall revenue and quality, in addition to prices and costs for specified diagnoses.

Consolidated hospitals undergo significant changes during their transition and oftentimes operate in a manner different …

The Design Of A Patient-Centric Healthcare Facility Rating Website: Consumer Choice As A Tool For Reform, Christopher August Dicapua

Honors Theses

The U.S. healthcare system consistently underperforms on crucial international comparisons, thereby highlighting the need for reform. Simultaneously, there exists bipartisan and strong cultural support for patient choice; i.e. the ability of patients to assess the quality of healthcare facilities and choose amongst competing options. However, prior literature suggests that patients struggle to choose amongst competing facilities due to perceived competency barriers and insufficient information. In this two-phased thesis project, I abstracted a model for mobilizing patient choice as a tool for healthcare reform by designing a website which presents government data on healthcare facility performance. First, three types of focus …

Linking Key Factors Of Quality Dementia Care: Knowledge And Self-Efficacy, Sophie E. Miller

Honors Theses

Dementia-related changes in cognition, memory, and personality can have wide-ranging impacts on individuals, families, and healthcare systems (Plassman et al., 2007); including caregiver burnout, disruption of family life, and costly care requirements (Graneheim, Johansson, & Lindgren, 2014). Dementia has become a global issue; 46 million people worldwide have dementia and $600 billion are spent on dementia-related care every year (Farina al., 2016). Certified nursing assistants (CNAs) generally assume the majority of day-to-day care and are a vital component of providing quality, person-centered services to patients with dementia in residential care (Burke & Orlowski, 2015). The purpose of this study was …

Private Vs. Public Healthcare In South Africa, Montgomery Young

Honors Theses

This paper explores the South African healthcare system in regards to the gap between the private and public healthcare sectors. Public healthcare is government funded and offered to all citizens of South Africa, but there are many disadvantages such as long wait times, rushed appointments, old facilities, and poor disease control and prevention practices. Citizens can opt to purchase private insurance in order to be treated at private hospitals and health clinics. The private healthcare sector has many perks that set it apart from public healthcare, such as short wait times, appointments are not rushed, better facilities, and proper disease …

Patient Perception Of Privacy And The Role Of Electronic Medical Records, Max Louis Willinger

Honors Theses

In order to better manage patient records, hospitals and health care settings across the nation have begun to implement electronic medical record systems (EMR). The purpose of this transition is to reduce excessive amounts of paper, to decrease administrative costs, and to increase the overall quality of care. With the implementation of the EMR, relationships between physicians and their patients have the potential to change. Research has shown that patient perceptions are changing regarding confidentiality, trust, and privacy in the doctor-patient relationship because of patient medical records being stored electronically as opposed to being locked away in a file cabinet. …

Burnout And Other Complex Challenges Causing Doctors To Become Patients In France And The United States, Cherry Chahal

Honors Theses

Everyday, people feel a calling to become a doctor for various reasons. These reasons include experiencing a disease or illness either through a family member or on one’s own, having a desire since childhood from hearing stories and wanting to help others, and perhaps wanting to propagate a family tradition and career. Out of all of the many reasons in the world, a desire to help others rises above the rest among to-be doctors. Thus, medical students and doctors dedicate their lives to learning about the human body in depth, well beyond what any introductory courses in biology will teach. …

The Effect Of Electronic Medical Record Sophistication On U.S. Hospital Emergency Department Efficiency, Imran Chaudhri

Honors Theses

A key concern in emergency departments (EDs) is their overall efficiency, One proposed solution to making EDs more efficient is the use of electronic medical records (EMRs). This paper seeks to determine if varying levels of EMR sophistication have an effect on measures of emergency department efficiency. Furukawa (2011) found that EMR sophistication had varying effects on ED efficiency. Fully functional EMRs significantly improved ED efficiency in multiple measures, while basic EMR varied on its effects on efficiency. Since Furukawa’s results are somewhat inconclusive, this study aims to see if these effects are longstanding. I hypothesize that as EMR became …

The Effect Of Uncompensated Medical Care On Safety-Net Hospitals In The United States, Daniel J. Dimenstein

Honors Theses

Uncompensated hospital care presents a significant problem in the United States health care system, and it is most prevalent in non-profit, “safety-net” hospitals, which make up the 10% of hospitals that provide the most uncompensated care. The incidence of uncompensated medical care stems from the inherent relationship between poverty and health in that poorer people (who tend to experience a lower health status) receive care from hospitals and are unable to pay for it, which results in these hospitals providing this care for a fraction of the charge or even free of charge. This study looks at the specific impact …

Do Medical Technology And Healthcare Spending Affect Health Outcomes?, Chandni V. Vaid

Honors Theses

Healthcare expenditures have been on the rise for many countries, especially for the developed countries. As of 2009, Japan, Australia and Canada are spending around 8 to 10% of their total GDP on healthcare, while the United States is currently up to 16%. One of the major factors contributing to increased expenditures on healthcare is the emergence of medical technology. Using data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), I empirically investigate the effects of medical technologies and healthcare expenditure on health outcomes for a group of 17 countries. Medical technology is measured by the number of MRI …

Regional Variation In The Length Of Hospital Stay And Insurance Coverage: A State-Wide Variation In Length Of Stay And Insurance Types, Samuel S. Yoon

Honors Theses

With the continuously growing healthcare expenditure, it is important to examine the causes of this phenomenon. Length of hospital stay is one possible cause. Using the panel data from 2001 – 2008 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, Statehealthfacts.org, Center for Disease Control and Prevention Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, Almanac of Hospital Financial & Operating Indicators 2007, and Current Population Survey March Supplements, this paper utilizes regression analysis to investigate geographic variation on the length of stay, focusing on the relationship between the different insurance types and the length of stay. As a variety of insurance types offers different reimbursement …

Rawls And Health Care, Elizabeth H. Coogan

Honors Theses

John Rawls’s A Theory of Justice (1971), his first major work articulating his theory of justice as fairness, was immediately recognized as a fundamental contribution to political philosophy in the twentieth century. Working within the tradition established by previous philosophers such as Kant and Locke, Rawls employed the contract theory approach. Taking it to a higher order of abstraction, he sought to determine not what the structure of social organization would be, but what the principles which governed social institutions would be under a hypothetical contracting situation. Rawls uses this contract theory approach to construct a society in which the …