Health Services Administration Commons^™

Necessity Of Analytics In Today’S Healthcare Revenue Cycle, Kristen N. Thomas

Applied Research Projects

Because of the recently growing pressures to improve quality and reduce costs, healthcare organizations are rapidly adopting IT in order to improve their operations and clinical care. As a result, an accumulation of vast amounts of data are becoming available for use. It is important for healthcare to use this data. Strome (2010) states that healthcare analytics is the application of statistical tools and techniques to healthcare-related data in order to study past situations (i.e., operational performance or clinical outcomes) to improve the quality and efficiency of clinical and business processes and performance. With the introduction of healthcare analytical tools, …

Hipaa Violations On Social Media, Tamesha Helen Parris

Applied Research Projects

With the rise of social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter, healthcare professionals and students pursing healthcare careers communicate, collaborate, and network on an array of websites and apps. With the use of social media, the users can reach a large audience in a matter of seconds, with this ease; users can transmit information and has presented challenges in the form of unauthorized disclosure of patient’s health information on social media sites. The purpose of this study is to see if the number of HIPAA violations increased due to the use of social media and what steps are healthcare …

Video Visits: A Closer Look At Patient Satisfaction And Quality Of Virtual Medical Care, Saddia Cheema

Applied Research Projects

Electronic medical services via video visits has revolutionized the delivery of medical care by Physicians and medical staff alike. Its steady evolution and progression towards the future of healthcare has provided insight on how to better serve patients and community members seeking care. This study will explore patient satisfaction and the quality of virtual medical care services provided by Physicians thru video visits as well as the impact of minimizing the spread of communicable diseases. Statistical data was gathered from a major U.S. healthcare company evaluating survey responses as well as feedback provided by member experience who visited with their …

Health Literacy Improves Health Care Quality, Rebecca Cook

Applied Research Projects

A lack of knowledge about health literacy is a cause for quality healthcare concern as the world advances in health information technology. Many patients struggle to understand and navigate their health and well-being as a result of lack of understanding of the treatment plan due to low literacy skills. Several federal policy initiatives promote health literacy as the responsibility of the healthcare organization. Improving health outcomes through health literacy should be a commitment of healthcare organization through providing clear communication, simplified forms, assistance, and even follow-up calls. Three major initiatives will combat health literacy to include the Affordable Care Act; …

Maintaining The Master Patient Index: The Impact Of Patient Registration Processes On Data Integrity, Matthew Biddle

Applied Research Projects

The master patient index is one of the most important components within a healthcare system. It ensures that an individual patient is given a unique identifier that is used across the various separate clinical, financial and administrative systems and ensures that all information about that patient is organized and complete. Ensuring the MPI is accurate is critical since errors can have significant costs- both financially and in terms of patient outcomes. Patient registrars are the first line of defense when it comes to correctly identifying incoming patients and is where many errors in the MPI occur. Errors can be simple …

Workforce Planning & Development In Times Of Delivery System Transformation: The Stories Of Kaiser Permanente And Montefiore Health System, Patricia Pittman, Ellen Scully-Russ

Health Workforce Research Center Publications

As the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) advances, many health systems are taking bold measures to reorganize how they deliver care, and finding that in order to do so; they need to make major changes in how their healthcare workforces are organized.

Understanding what workforce changes are occurring and how they are being managed is important not just for healthcare leaders, but for policymakers as well. Traditional methods of projecting provider shortages and justifying the allocation of public funding to expand various professional pipelines are giving way to the notion that there are many models of care delivery …

Health Policy & Management News, Georgia Southern University

Health Policy & Management Department News (2011-2018)

• Georgia Southern Analyzes Awareness about Emerging Public Health Trends

Health Policy & Management News, Georgia Southern University

Health Policy & Management Department News (2011-2018)

• Georgia Southern Receives Georgia Department of Natural Resources and NOAA Grant
• Georgia Southern Receives Contract from Georgia Association of Emergency Medical Services (EMS)

Health Policy & Management News, Georgia Southern University

Health Policy & Management Department News (2011-2018)

• Georgia Southern Examines Facebook Use by Local Health Departments

How Could, Should, And Would Physicians Use Facebook With Patients, Joy Peluchette, Katherine Karl, Alberto Coustasse

Alberto Coustasse, DrPH, MD, MBA, MPH

After reviewing the benefits and risks of social media, we examine online discussion boards to determine the thoughts of physicians and patients regarding the use of Facebook to communicate with one another about health-related issues. Of the 290 comments analyzed, we found 42 percent were opposed to physicians using Facebook. Additionally, most (51.7 were opposed to physicians being Facebook “friends” with patients. Most opponents expressed concerns about privacy and the need to maintain professional boundaries in the physician-patient relationship. We provide suggestions for how healthcare administrators can effectively manage their social media presence and provide assistance to physicians.

Medicare's Post-Acute Care Payment: An Updated Review Of The Issues And Policy Proposals, Sally Coberly

National Health Policy Forum

Medicare spending on post-acute care provided by home health agencies, skilled nursing facilities, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, and long-term care hospitals accounted for about 10 percent of total program outlays in 2013. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission and others have noted several long-standing problems with the payment systems for post-acute care and have suggested refinements to Medicare's post-acute care payment systems that are intended to encourage the delivery of appropriate care in the right setting for a patient's condition. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 contained several provisions that affect the Medicare program's post-acute care payment systems, as …

Community Health Workers: Health System Integration, Financing Opportunities, And The Evolving Role Of The Community Health Worker In A Post-Health Reform Landsacape, Mary-Beth Malcarney, Patricia Pittman, Leo Quigley, Naomi Seiler, Katie B. Horton

Health Workforce Research Center Publications

Community Health Workers (CHWs) have been gaining attention from policymakers because of their unique role in addressing health disparities and socioeconomic drivers of disease, and because of their potential integration into the health care delivery system. To date, there has been limited research specifically describing the variation in CHWs’ roles and relationships, and how that variation relates to management, to financing, to health system integration, and to the competencies CHWs should have in different contexts.

The purpose of this report is to better understand the varied landscape; to offer categories of analysis that may help inform policy, management, and research; …

Implementation Of The International Health Regulations (2005) Through Cooperative Bioengagement, Claire J. Standley, Erin M. Sorrell, Sarah Kornblet, Julie E. Fischer, Rebecca Katz

Health Policy and Management Faculty Publications

Cooperative bioengagement efforts, as practiced by U.S. government-funded entities, such as the Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s Cooperative Biological Engagement Program, the State Department’s Biosecurity Engagement Program, and parallel programs in other countries, exist at the nexus between public health and security. These programs have an explicit emphasis on developing projects that address the priorities of the partner country as well as the donor. While the objectives of cooperative bioengagement programs focus on reducing the potential for accidental or intentional misuse and/or release of dangerous biological agents, many partner countries are interested in bioengagement as a means to improve basic public …

Impact Of Laws Aimed At Healthcare-Associated Infection Reduction: A Qualitative Study, Patrica W. Stone, Monika Pogorzelska-Maziarz, Julie Reagan, Jacqueline A. Merrill, Brad Sperber, Catherine Cairns, Matthew Penn, Tara Ramanathan, Elizabeth Mothershed, Elizabeth Skillen

Health Policy and Management Faculty Publications

Background: Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are preventable. Globally, laws aimed at reducing HAIs have been implemented. In the USA, these laws are at the federal and state levels. It is not known whether the state interventions are more effective than the federal incentives alone.

Objective: The aims of this study were to explore the impact federal and state HAI laws have on state departments of health and hospital stakeholders in the USA and to explore similarities and differences in perceptions across states.

Methods: A qualitative study was conducted. In 2012, we conducted semistructured interviews with key stakeholders from states with and …

Exercising Agency In Medical Decision-Making Processes Conventional And Traditional Medicine -A Case Study Of 67ha, Antananarivo-, Sakura Oyama

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The formal integration of traditional and conventional medicine has been touted as a prime method to improve access to quality healthcare in Madagascar. This study draws on interviews with both traditional and conventional medical professionals as well as 100 residents of 67ha, Antananarivo to critically analyze the advantages of each sector in order to understand how integration can be used to strengthen the medical-decision making capacities of marginalized populations. Currently the ability for millions of Malagasy to exercise their freedom of choice in seeking their treatment method of choice is seriously compromised not only by cost and accessibility but by …

The Impact Of Changing Lake Levels On Property Values: A Hedonic Model Of Lake Thurmond, Lori Dickes, Elizabeth L. Crouch

Faculty Publications

This study uses hedonic pricing models to examine the relationship between lake levels and property values for properties adjacent to Lake Thurmond. Lake Thurmond is located along the Savannah River Basin, bordering Georgia and South Carolina. Of the 1,030 properties from 2000-2009 for which data was reliable and available, 388 were lake front homes. The model of the effect of lake level on sales prices also includes home characteristics, home condition variables, lake attributes, and macroeconomic control variables. Results reveal a statistically significant change in sales price when the lake is closer to full pool. Results confirm that declining Lake …

The Impact Of Changing Lake Levels On Property Values: A Hedonic Model Of Lake Thurmond, Lori Dickes, Elizabeth L. Crouch

Faculty Publications

This study uses hedonic pricing models to examine the relationship between lake levels and property values for properties adjacent to Lake Thurmond. Lake Thurmond is located along the Savannah River Basin, bordering Georgia and South Carolina. Of the 1,030 properties from 2000-2009 for which data was reliable and available, 388 were lake front homes. The model of the effect of lake level on sales prices also includes home characteristics, home condition variables, lake attributes, and macroeconomic control variables. Results reveal a statistically significant change in sales price when the lake is closer to full pool. Results confirm that declining Lake …

When Does Marketisation Lead To Privatisation? Profit-Making In English Health Services After The 2012 Health And Social Care Act, Nick Krachler, Ian Greer

Ian Greer

Governments world-wide have attempted to use market mechanisms and privatisation to increase the quality and/or reduce the cost of healthcare. England’s Health and Social Care Act 2012 is an attempt to promote privatisation through marketisation in the National Health Service (NHS). While the health policy literature tends to assume that privatisation follows from private-sector entry points, we argue that this is more likely if firms expect to make a profit. This paper examines the link between privatisation and marketisation in England drawing on 32 semi-structured interviews with private-sector and public-sector respondents, campaigners, and other experts conducted 6-10 months after the …

Challenges Of Forecasting Physician Workforce Needs Amid Delivery System Transformation, Rob Cunningham

National Health Policy Forum

As population growth and the aging of the overall population increase demand for health care, policymakers and analysts grapple with whether sufficient health care providers, particularly physicians, will be available to meet that demand. Some argue there are too few physicians already; others say our current supply-demand problems lie with efficiency. But suppose both are correct? Perhaps the real challenge is to understand how the provision of health care services is changing in response to market forces such as payment changes, patients' expectations, provider distributions, and technology innovations. This issue brief revisits what is known about evolving practice organizations, professional …

Health Policy & Management News, Georgia Southern University

Health Policy & Management Department News (2011-2018)

• Georgia Southern Examines Variation in Public Health Governance
• Georgia Southern Examined Rural-Urban Differences in Perceptions of Child Overweight