Part A- There are four assigned readings this week, per the links in Week 1 content (see below).

1. Identify one concept that interests you in two of the four assigned articles. (You will have two separate concepts in your initial post.)

2. For each concept:
a. Identify the concept/cite the article and page numbers.
b. Provide a brief summary of the concept.
c. Identify why you feel this is an important concept to healthcare administrators, and how you feel it will help you in your present/ future job.

3. In your three follow up posts to classmates, please response to only one of the two concepts identified by a classmate. No need to respond to both for the same classmate.

Read material links:
• Course Introduction and Outcomes (embedded below)
• Week1 Lecture (embedded below)
• An overview of health care management http://getreads.com/reader/view/12966/An-Overview-of-Healthcare-Management-Jones-Bartlett-Learning
• The changing scene: organization adaptation and survival http://www.jblearning.com/samples/0763746177/46177_CH01.pdf
• Today's Concept of Organizational Management (http://www.jblearning.com/samples/0763746177/46177_CH03.pdf)
• Transforming Health Care Organizations http://www.longwoods.com/content/18490

Part B- Choose ONE of the following options to discuss: (Try not to repeat the same advantage or disadvantages that others have already posted). Please discuss thoroughly.

a) You just started your new job as a Health Services Manager at a local hospital. The CEO wants your opinion on the advantages and disadvantages of various third-party reimbursement arrangements. Pick one of the reimbursement arrangements discussed in this week's reading and discuss ONE advantage and ONE disadvantage. The reimbursement arrangement to be discussed is Per Diem( info below).

-Per Diem

Healthcare organizations receive a per day reimbursement for care provided to the patients of third-party payers. Because the third-party payer sets the per diem rate prospectively, or prior to the provision of care, per diem as a method of payment provides both financial risks and financial incentives to the healthcare organization. In the event that the organization provides care for a cost greater than the per diem rate, the organization incurs a loss. In the event that the organization provides care for a cost less than the per diem rate, the organization realizes a profit. However, if the third-party payer does not monitor lengths of stay, the healthcare organization can extend lengths of stay to recover excessive per diem costs. Because per diem rates are generally the same for each day of a length of stay, this method of reimbursement assumes that costs are the same for each day of a length of stay. This assumption is true for many extended care organizations, but not for acute care organizations in which the patient incurs a greater proportion of the costs during the early days of the admission because of diagnostic testing.