400 words and 2 or more references per question

Question 1 Judicial System in Healthcare (400 words)

As a policy analyst for your organization, you are responsible for monitoring the actions of your legislature and state agencies and providing notification when a new law affecting your organization has been proposed and finalized. Find a law that has been recently established in your state. Describe the background of the law. Was it created by legislative action, administrative agency, or through a constituency vote?
Describe how this law will affect a health care organization.

Question 2 Laws in Healthcare 400 words)

Federal agencies are increasingly becoming active in investigating violations of health care laws. In addition, private lawsuits are surfacing on violations of health care laws. Find a recent case where there has been a violation of a health care law, such as a case involving fraud, privacy, or security. Discuss the following:

• What tort or criminal law was violated?
• Who was the investigating agency?
• Were there civil or criminal penalties and what were the penalties?
• In your opinion, was this a fair penalty for the violation that occurred?

Question 3 – Fiduciary Duties in Health Care 400 words)

With the HIPAA laws, much emphasis has been placed on the patient’s privacy rights and the requirements of the health care organization (a covered entity) to ensure privacy of protected health information. Discuss the following:

• When there is a breach of privacy, has a breach of fiduciary duty occurred?

Question 4 – Ethics of Heath Care Professionals (400 words)

Locate a case where a health care professional has been disciplined by the licensure board. Examine the issues, compare those issues with the professional ethics of that profession, and discuss the ethical violations that may have occurred in the conduct leading to disciplinary action.

Week 6 Discussion: Learning Together

Learning communities emerged as a popular trend in the late 1990s and has become more prevalent in higher education. Learning communities have been developed based on shared qualities among students such as their major, career goal, academic interest, or non-academic factors such as living in a particular residence hall or participating in a student organization or athletic team. The chapter on active and collaborative learning by Kuh, et al. (2010) presents a very positive view of learning communities. The article by Talburt and Boyle (2005) presents a more critical view.

In this week’s Discussion, you will consider these opposing viewpoints and how these perspectives shape and influence learning environments.

• What are the potential benefits and challenges of learning communities?
• Which arguments are the most important, in your view?
• Should learning communities be pursued as a significant strategy for enhancing student learning?

Week 7 Discussion: Study Abroad – Implementation and Alternatives

In their chapter on enriching educational experiences, Kuh et al. (2010) discuss how DEEP institutions present students with opportunities to complement their academic programs and learning in the classroom.

In this week’s Discussion, consider these questions of purpose and responsibility:

• Should opportunities such as study abroad be considered mandatory at some institutions because of institutional emphases on diversity and global learning?
• What alternatives might exist to expensive study abroad programs?
• How would you implement these various alternatives, and how would you ensure that students met institutional learning goals for global awareness?

Week 8 Discussion: DEEP Thoughts

For this final Discussion, consider these questions:

• What makes the DEEP institutions “special” when it comes to supportive student learning environments?
• How could an institution that does not currently display the characteristics of a DEEP institution work toward implementing similar principles and practices?
• How could the institution use technology to support these efforts, and overcome organizational, financial, or cultural challenges that might otherwise limit its progress toward improving the learning environment for students?