Syllabus for NUR-825

Health Economics and Finance


COURSE DESCRIPTION

Health Economics and Finance provides students an in-depth exploration of value-based service, economics, finance, budget, and reimbursement models that impact healthcare organizations and healthcare practices. Students will develop and analyze business plans and implement a cost-benefit analysis based upon value and quality models. Application of resources, tools for decision making, and communication strategies will be integrated.

COURSE TOPICS

COURSE OBJECTIVES

After completing this course, you should be able to:

CO1        Use models of quality and safety to plan a practice environment performance improvement project or change.

CO2        Apply business models to assess the cost effectiveness of a practice environment project or change.

CO3        Analyze the impact of a value-based service on the quality, safety, and cost effectiveness in the clinical practice environment.

CO4        Develop a performance improvement project that address a project or change in the clinical practice setting that includes a financial evaluation.

CO5        Discriminate monetary and non-monetary cost-benefit analyses to justify change projects or improvement projects that enhance the quality or safety of healthcare.

COURSE MATERIALS

You will need the following materials to do the work of the course. The required textbook is available from the University’s textbook supplier, MBS Direct.

Required Textbook

ISBN-13: 978-1567936766

Required Article Readings

COURSE STRUCTURE

NUR-825: Health Economics and Finance is a three-credit, online course consisting of seven modules. Modules include an overview, topics, learning objectives, study materials, and activities. Module titles are listed below.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

For your formal work in the course, you are required to participate in online discussion forums, complete written assignments, financial exercises, and a final project. See below for details.

Consult the Course Calendar for due dates.

Please note: (1) Rewriting or resubmitting assignments is not permitted; (2) no assignments may be submitted after the last day of the course without an approved extension; and (3) extension requests must be approved by the mentor and submitted by the student to the Registrar's Office prior to the last day of the course.

Discussion Forums

In addition to an ungraded Introductions Forum, you are required to participate in six graded online class discussions.

Communication with your mentor and among fellow students is a critical component of online learning. Participation in online class discussions involves two distinct activities: an initial response to a discussion question and at least two subsequent comments on classmates' responses.

All of these responses must be substantial. Meaningful participation is relevant to the content, adds value, and advances the discussion. Comments such as "I agree" and "ditto" are not considered value-adding participation. Therefore, when you agree or disagree with a classmate or your mentor, state and support your position.

You will be evaluated on the quality and quantity of your participation, including your use of relevant course information to support your point of view, and your awareness of and responses to the postings of your classmates. Remember, these are discussions: responses and comments should be properly proofread and edited, mature, and respectful.

Note: The minimum participation requirement for discussion forum activities is at least three posts on at least three different days—an initial post responding to the questions and at least two posts to at least two classmates. Located within the Evaluation Rubrics folder on the course website is the online discussion forum rubric used to grade all online discussions.

Written Assignments

You are required to complete five written assignments. The written assignments are on a variety of topics associated with the course modules. For specific details, consult the individual course modules. Consult the Course Calendar for due dates.

Financial Exercises

You are required to complete two financial exercises. These exercises require you to analyze finance drivers and discuss clinical implications of the cases outlined. For specific details, consult the individual course modules. Consult the Course Calendar for due dates.

Final Project

You are required to complete one final project. The final project requires you to develop a business case using your approved PICOT/DNP project and write an analysis paper. You will complete and submit the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s Business Case template and write an analysis paper to support your business case.

Refer to the Final Project area of the course website for full details and requirements. Consult the Course Calendar for due dates.

TURNITIN REQUIREMENT

You are required to submit Written Assignment 1, Written Assignment 2, Written Assignment 3, Written Assignment 4, and the Final Project in this course to Turnitin.com, an academic plagiarism prevention site, prior to submitting the assignment within your course space.

You will be able to view your originality report from Turnitin, which will provide information regarding writing style as well as a plagiarism gauge with tips for proper citations (see the FAQ page, linked below, for further information). Based on this feedback you will have the option to keep the original attempt or to choose to edit your assignment and resubmit it one more time to Turnitin (you will be allowed only one additional attempt). Please note: You will still need to submit the final version of your assignment in the course space.

 

Read carefully the document at the following link, as it will give you instructions for this requirement:

Turnitin FAQ Page 

GRADING AND EVALUATION

Your grade in the course will be determined as follows:

All graded activities will receive a numerical grade of 0–100. You will receive a score of 0 for any work not submitted. Your final grade in the course will be a letter grade. Letter grade equivalents for numerical grades are as follows:

A

=

93–100

B

=

83–87

A–

=

90–92

C

=

73–82

B+

=

88–89

F

=

Below 73

To receive credit for the course, you must earn a letter grade of B or better, based on the weighted average of all assigned course work (e.g., assignments, papers, discussion postings).

Lateness Policy

Written assignments should be submitted no later than the due date unless prior arrangements are made with the mentor and a new due date is established. If a student submits an assignment after the due date without having made arrangements with the mentor, a minimum of 5 points (based on an assignment grading scale of 100 points) or 5% of the total points will be deducted for each week, or part thereof, that the assignment is late. Discussion forum assignments must be done in the week they are due or points will be forfeited.

STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS

First Steps to Success

To succeed in this course, take the following first steps:

Study Tips

Consider the following study tips for success:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

Thomas Edison State University is committed to maintaining academic quality, excellence, and honesty. The University expects all members of its community to share the commitment to academic integrity, an essential component of a quality academic experience.

Students at Thomas Edison State University are expected to exhibit the highest level of academic citizenship. In particular, students are expected to read and follow all policies, procedures, and program information guidelines contained in publications; pursue their learning goals with honesty and integrity; demonstrate that they are progressing satisfactorily and in a timely fashion by meeting course deadlines and following outlined procedures; observe a code of mutual respect in dealing with mentors, staff, and other students; behave in a manner consistent with the standards and codes of the profession in which they are practicing; keep official records updated regarding changes in name, address, telephone number, or e-mail address; and meet financial obligations in a timely manner. Students not practicing good academic citizenship may be subject to disciplinary action including suspension, dismissal, or financial holds on records.

All members of the University community are responsible for reviewing the Academic Code of Conduct Policy in the University Catalog and online at www.tesu.edu.

Academic Dishonesty

Thomas Edison State University expects all of its students to approach their education with academic integrity—the pursuit of scholarly activity free from fraud and deception. All mentors and administrative staff members at the University insist on strict standards of academic honesty in all courses. Academic dishonesty undermines this objective. Academic dishonesty can take the following forms:

Plagiarism

Thomas Edison State University is committed to helping students understand the seriousness of plagiarism, which is defined as using the work and ideas of others without proper citation. The University takes a strong stance against plagiarism, and students found to be plagiarizing are subject to discipline under the academic code of conduct policy.

If you copy phrases, sentences, paragraphs, or whole documents word-for-word—or if you paraphrase by changing a word here and there—without identifying the author, or without identifying it as a direct quote, then you are plagiarizing. Please keep in mind that this type of identification applies to Internet sources as well as to print-based sources. Copying and pasting from the Internet, without using quotation marks and without acknowledging sources, constitutes plagiarism. (For information about how to cite Internet sources, see Online Student Handbook > Academic Standards > Citing Sources.)

Accidentally copying the words and ideas of another writer does not excuse the charge of plagiarism. It is easy to jot down notes and ideas from many sources and then write your own paper without knowing which words are your own and which are someone else’s. It is more difficult to keep track of each and every source. However, the conscientious writer who wishes to avoid plagiarizing never fails to keep careful track of sources.

Always be aware that if you write without acknowledging the sources of your ideas, you run the risk of being charged with plagiarism.

Clearly, plagiarism, no matter the degree of intent to deceive, defeats the purpose of education. If you plagiarize deliberately, you are not educating yourself, and you are wasting your time on courses meant to improve your skills. If you plagiarize through carelessness, you are deceiving yourself.

For examples of unintentional plagiarism, advice on when to quote and when to paraphrase, and information about writing assistance and originality report checking, click the links provided below.

Examples of Unintentional Plagiarism

When to Quote and When to Paraphrase

Writing Assistance at Smarthinking

Originality Report Checking at Turnitin

Disciplinary Process for Plagiarism

Acts of both intentional and unintentional plagiarism violate the Academic Code of Conduct.

If an incident of plagiarism is an isolated minor oversight or an obvious result of ignorance of proper citation requirements, the mentor may handle the matter as a learning exercise. Appropriate consequences may include the completion of tutorials, assignment rewrites, or any other reasonable learning tool in addition to a lower grade for the assignment or course. The mentor will notify the student and appropriate dean of the consequence by e-mail.

If the plagiarism appears intentional and/or is more than an isolated incident, the mentor will refer the matter to the appropriate dean, who will gather information about the violation(s) from the mentor and student, as necessary. The dean will review the matter and notify the student in writing of the specifics of the charge and the sanction to be imposed.

Possible sanctions include:

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