Assignment 5: Public Health Preparedness

You have just been hired as a new Vice President of quality and safety for a full-service 600-bed government healthcare organization.  Within your first month on the job, the national security threat level has been raised to Imminent, which means there is a credible, specific, and impending terrorist threat against the United States, and your facility may be directly impacted. The Chief Executive Officer has requested an immediate six to eight-page report of your proposal for handling such a situation.

Note: You may create and /or make all necessary assumptions needed for the completion of this assignment.

Write a 6-8 page paper in which you:

1. Examine the existing procedures related to at least four (4) of the ten (10) essential public health services. Focus on the principal effects that these procedures will have on your hospital during the emergency.
2. Specify the importance of continuing to evaluate patients, as stipulated by the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), during the emergency.
3. Detail three (3) measures that you would use in order to maintain the electronic medical record system during the emergency.
4. Defend your position on the decision to accept health insurance during the emergency as a potential source of income for the facility. Provide support with at least three (3) examples that illustrate your position.
5. Analyze the extent to which this emergency might affect the quality of care provided to the patients and the unimpeded operation of the organization.
6. Use at least three (3) quality references. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic resources.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

• Examine information management and health care records and how the legal reporting requirements impact health care.
• Analyze the impact of healthcare financing and health insurance on healthcare access, quality, and cost.
• Analyze the influence of health policy and health reform on healthcare access, quality, and cost in the U.S.
• Analyze tort reform and healthcare quality.
• Use technology and information resources to research issues in healthcare policy, law, and ethics.
• Write clearly and concisely about healthcare policy and law using proper writing mechanics.

Click here to view the grading rubric.