In this assignment, you will assess how the general public's perception of healthcare quality is influenced by the mass media.

Locate an article that reports on the quality of healthcare services. The article must be sourced from the mass media and not from an academic or healthcare journal. The purpose of this assignment is to review information reported to the general public in a news source that does not exclusively cover healthcare issues. Weekly magazines, such as Time, Newsweek, US News and World Report, Forbes, Money, and Consumer Reports, and newspapers, such as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, would be appropriate choices. The article may give various examples of good or bad quality instead of covering just one episode of care. Your selected article must be a comprehensive review or assessment of some aspect of healthcare services. Summarize the article. Be certain to indicate the basis for the report, that is, whether it is the result of academic research, an independent investigation, or something else.

Answer the following questions.

• In the article, what conditions, processes, or events are noted as good quality or poor quality healthcare? What is your own assessment of these conditions, processes, or events? Explain.

• Does the article assign responsibility to persons or processes for the problems or achievements it reports? Does it provide sufficient evidence for assigning responsibility? Why do you think so?

• What are the suggestions for healthcare quality improvement in the article?

• What is your reaction to this article as a consumer of healthcare services? In answering this question, note how the article uses language and any persuasive techniques.

• What is your reaction to this article as a provider of healthcare services? Why is this reaction the same as or different from your reaction as a consumer?

• Is the article fair in its reporting and assessing healthcare quality? Why or why not?