Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Strategic Audit Of Optum, Connor Crow

Honors Theses

Optum is a large American-based pharmacy benefit manager, healthcare consultant, healthcare delivery service, and business analytics corporation that has dominated the industry with sister-company UnitedHealthcare underneath the umbrella UnitedHealthGroup. This report seeks to understand through internal and external analyses how Optum’s business model and strategies have allowed them to gain and sustain competitive advantages in the everchanging, volatile environment of healthcare. Specific tools used to highlight this include Porter’s Five Forces, PESTEL, and SWOT analyses. Additionally, strategic recommendations are given for Optum’s next steps.

Sex Related Differences In Skeletal Muscle Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue, Cross-Sectional Area, And Grayscale, Christina Sullivan

Honors Theses

Previous studies have demonstrated the efficacy of ultrasonography to assess subcutaneous adipose tissue, cross-sectional area (CSA), and grayscale for muscle. The purpose of the present study was to examine the sex-related differences in subcutaneous adipose tissue, as well as cross-sectional area and grayscale for the rectus femoris (RF) and vastus lateralis (VL). Five recreationally trained males (mean ± SD: age= 25.6 ± 1.9 years; height= 182.29 ± 5.88 cm; body mass= 84.67 ± 9.88 kg) and five recreationally trained females (mean ± SD: age= 21 ± .71 years; height= 162.71 ± 12.41 cm; body mass= 77.02 ± 14.91 kg) visited …

The Effect Of High School Disability-Based Peer Mentoring On Perspectives Toward People With Disabilities, Caroline Jacobs

Honors Theses

Negative perspectives towards people with disabilities have been shown to lead to discrimination, prejudice, and an overall decreased quality of life. One way to possibly improve attitudes and interactions with students with disabilities could be implementing peer mentoring programs for special education students in high school. Research presented in this thesis examines the difference in perspectives toward people with disabilities between people who have or have not participated as a mentor in a disability-based peer mentoring program in high school. Data were collected through an online survey that assessed peer mentoring experiences as well as a scale to measure comfort …

The Ongoing Disparity Between Early Intervention Services And Those Who Need Them, Addison Goerl

Honors Theses

Although early intervention (EI) services have been shown to be highly effective and beneficial for young children, only 12% of those who qualify at 24 months receive services (Feinberg et al., 2011). There is a myriad of barriers that impedes access to EI services for those who need them. These barriers include myths about development and intervention, parent’s concerns being ignored, social inequalities limited access to early intervention, systemic barriers within the professional world, unperceived benefits of intervention, and limited communication flow to parents. However, there are some supports that help more families access EI services including doctors, early interventionists, …

Nrc Health: Loyalty Insights, Grace Dickas, Allie Rauner, Keenan Allen, Utkarsh Hardia, Teckhong Lee

Honors Theses

One of the biggest concerns of health systems is to know how they can better serve their patients. Health systems seek to exceed patient expectations and inspire patients to return to their system for all their health needs. A patient who returns can be considered loyal to that health system. NRC Health collects patient data from over 9,000 health systems across the country. This allows it to provide data insights that inform health systems’ decisions. The ultimate goal is to increase patient loyalty for health systems by helping them understand how to serve their patients better. The team was tasked …

A Qualitative Analysis Of The Barriers Faced By Nursing Assistants And Medication Aides In The Care Of Dysphagia Residents, Lauren Kreuzberg

Honors Theses

Dysphagia refers to the symptom of difficulty in swallowing that accompanies several prevalent conditions in the older adult population, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, Lou Gehrig’s Disease), stroke, Parkinson’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, dementia, various cancers, and brain tumors (Allari, 2014). Many older adults who suffer from these conditions reside in nursing facilities, where most of their care is provided by certified nursing assistants (CNAs) and medication aides (MAs). However, the extent of these workers’ knowledge and competence in providing care to nursing home residents with dysphagia is vastly under-researched. The qualitative analysis investigates themes among interviews with fifteen CNAs and …

Healthy Lifestyles Community Readiness Assessment: Co-Creating Initiatives With Communities And Examining Differences In Sectors And Demographic Characteristics Across Dimensions, Brenna Schmader

Honors Theses

Nebraska Extension identified a need to better understand community readiness to engage communities and meet their needs. An interdisciplinary team of Extension Educators and Specialists was developed from the Community Vitality Initiative and the Food, Nutrition, and Health team. Six dimensions were identified as contributing factors for healthful communities and were the basis for the Healthy Lifestyles Community Readiness Assessment (HLCRA): Leadership Energy; Issue Awareness; Participation; Inclusivity; Resources; and Entrepreneurial Activities.

The assessment helps determine: a) programming type needed and b) who Extension can connect with in the community to enhance program success. The assessment was piloted by trained staff …

Navigating The Social Determinants Of Health: First Steps Toward Assessing And Addressing Socioeconomic Needs, Jocelyn Daubendiek

Honors Theses

The Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) are the socioeconomic conditions that shape a person’s life and can include an individual’s housing situation, economic opportunities, ability to obtain food, access to transportation and healthcare, level of education, and exposure to discrimination and violence. When people struggle with these socioeconomic aspects of their lives, their health will be negatively impacted as a consequence. In this study, the SDOH of patients were evaluated at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and Nebraska Medicine through the use of a survey about socioeconomic needs, and the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) of each participating patient was …

Diabetes Debunked: What You Need To Know, Maggie Hutson

Honors Theses

The goal of this Honors creative project is to encourage health literacy in populations who are curious about Type 2 Diabetes or have Type 2 Diabetes. From personal experience, I have seen noncompliance in diabetics and wondered why since it is a serious, progressive disease. After researching, I found that some diabetics do not understand the scope of their disease, especially since many of the dangerous complications that arise from Type 2 Diabetes do not present until later in the disease when it is too late. For my senior project, I decided to write an educational paper as a supplement …

Neutrophil Infiltration Into The Cervical Compartment Is Suppressed By Hiv Infection, Madeline Maschka

Honors Theses

Human Papillomavirus (HPV), is a small circular dsDNA virus with at least 200 different genotypes; each genotype is identified by at least 10% difference at the DNA level in the L1 capsid gene. Each HPV genotype affects the body in different tissues, either mucosal or cutaneous. Mucosal HPVs type 16 and 18 are known as high-risk strains, since HPV infection is the most common cause of cervical cancer and plays a central role in formation of precancerous lesions. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) damages the body’s immune system by targeting CD4+ T cells. Once CD4+ T cells are infected, the body …

The Unique Demands Of Playing Posture On Youth Violinists And Violists, Liam Carroll

Honors Theses

The high prevalence of performing arts injuries is an acknowledged challenge facing the performing arts medicine community. The injuries seem to affect string players the most among orchestral musicians, specifically violinists and violists. The asymmetrical posture, head and neck displacement, and spinal displacement required by the posture to play violin and viola can lead to discomfort or injury in the performer. Performance related musculoskeletal disorders (PRMDs) can have an adverse impact on the life of a musician, preventing them from performing or making it uncomfortable. While there is a large body of research on PRMDs relating to adult musicians, there …

The Parasite Giardia, Ashley Anderson

Honors Theses

The focus of this research is to better understand how this parasite works. The protozoan Giardia spp is found all over the world and in many species such as dogs, cats, and humans. From its two different forms to the microscopic size of both forms to its ability to destroy intestinal villi and cause symptoms like other parasitic infections, Giardia spp is continuously misdiagnosed. Upon further observation at veterinary clinics and researching science articles, Giardia spp is most commonly found in pets but has the potential to spread to humans via contaminated water. The most commonly infected humans are hikers, …

A Case Study Of Barriers To Dental Care In Nebraska, Kaitlin Buhler

Honors Theses

An important aspect of overall health is access to dental care, which is, unfortunately, oftentimes difficult to obtain. This study used data collected from a case study of three registered dentists in Nebraska to investigate the barriers to dental care, and identified the lack of dental insurance, limited access to free or reduced-price dental care, and dental anxiety as perceived barriers to dental care. Factors that did not seem to have an impact were language or ethnicity differences between patients and workers, distance to travel, comfortability with receiving free or reduced-price dental care, knowledge of how often to visit the …

Curriculum For Hippotherapy For Children With Autism, Brenna Schulte, Kristy Weissling

Honors Theses

Innovative effective forms of allied health therapies across disciplines including occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech therapy are being continuously researched and implemented for people with a variety of disabilities. One form of therapy increasing in popularity is Hippotherapy (HPOT). There is a variety of terms related to hippotherapy. More broadly, Equine Assisted Therapy (EAT) is the use of horses to promote physical and mental health and can be utilized for a wide variety of disabilities, such as ADHD and Autism, as well as physical disabilities such as cerebral palsy. HPOT occurs when OT, PT, and ST professionals utilizes horse …

Pharmaceutical Manufacturing In The 21st Century: Identification And Analysis Of Key Elements, Robert N. Mills

Honors Theses

The availability of quality pharmaceutical products impacts the lives of the global population on a daily basis. The importance of product availability and quality within pharmaceutical manufacturing requires that quality systems put into place are capable of accurately and robustly capturing the quality compliance, or lack thereof, of the various stages of production. This review intends to analyze current expert-recommended best practices within key elements of a pharmaceutical manufacturing quality control system and provide recommendations throughout. The quality elements discussed include Quality by Design method validation, necessary equipment determination, and equipment qualification, followed by documentation control and data flow.