Prepare a health care problem analysis proposal in outline format (3-10 pages) on a current, relevant health care problem. Include the rationale for selecting the problem, a description of the how the problem is assessed and measured for quality improvement purposes, a proposed industry measure of performance, action steps for completing the project, and a description of the applicable leadership competencies.

Effective health care leaders simultaneously maintain internal organizational and external industry environmental awareness. Leaders are challenged to focus on vision, mission, strategic direction, goals, and objectives while remaining mindful of emerging trends that may affect an organization’s viability. Monitoring the external environment for issues that may represent major challenges to an organization requires ongoing diligence. Health care administrators must identify and prioritize issues affecting their organizations. Furthermore, leaders must select methods and tools with which to analyze data for identification of potential solutions.

In this first assessment in your capstone course, you will have an opportunity to select a health care problem that is relevant to your career interests and one that adds value to a current or future health care organization. By the end of the course, you will be drawing from current scholarly and/or authoritative sources to provide evidence-based recommendations to solve the problem. 

Demonstration of Proficiency
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the course competencies through the following assessment scoring guide criteria:

Competency 1: Evaluate problems in health care organizations, and apply tools to improve quality and outcomes.
Describe, using an authoritative source, how the selected health care problem is assessed and measured for quality improvement purposes.
Describe how five American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) leadership competencies apply to the selected capstone project topic.
Competency 2: Analyze foundational elements of the U.S. health care system.
Identify a relevant problem along with the rationale for selecting the problem.
Competency 4: Analyze records and reports based on established benchmarks and organizational goals and performance.
Propose an industry measure of performance, such as a benchmark, which pertains to the type of organization selected for problem analysis.
Competency 5:  Create comprehensive and useable data-driven actions plans, based on industry benchmarks.
Provide a bulleted list of the preliminary action plan steps to review the problem and propose solutions.
Competency 6:  Communicate effectively with diverse audiences, in an appropriate form and style, consistent with applicable organizational, professional, and scholarly standards.
Create a clear, well organized, professional, and generally error-free outline that describes a relevant health care problem.
Preparation
To successfully complete this first assessment in your capstone course, you will need to conduct independent research on current, relevant problems facing the U.S. health care system. The problem you select needs to meet all of the following criteria:

The selected health care problem is likely to affect your current or desired future workplace, such as a hospital, home health care agency, hospice, ambulatory clinic, et cetera.
Authoritative and scholarly health care literature addresses the problem of interest.
Data is available for the selected problem.
The current state can be articulated by describing major factors and the way in which these factors are measured.  For example, the selected problem can be analyzed by examining such data as average length of stay (in days) and cost (dollars).
You may begin your research on current, relevant problems facing the health care industry by studying your suggested resources for this assessment. In addition, you may want to consult the Health Care Administration Undergraduate Library Research Guide to help you begin your search for scholarly and authoritative sources on significant, contemporary problems in the health care industry.

Please ensure that the problem is relevant and of sufficient interest to your career goals since all future course work is built upon the stated problem.

Instructions
For this assessment, you will construct a capstone health care problem analysis proposal on your selected topic. You may wish to envision your current or future workplace as the potential site for presentation of the proposal. After your proposal is constructed, you will receive feedback from your faculty member. Later in the course, in a separate assessment, you will receive feedback from a practicing professional about the proposed approach to analyze data relating to the problem.

The requirement for this assessment is to produce a proposal that has clear section headings and contains a flow of logic. You may opt to use an outline format. Please avoid lengthy narrative paragraphs, as the proposal is intended to be presented in an imaginary workplace. Busy executives will not have time to read paragraphs word for word. Instead, expect that your audience will read the document by scanning. Your goal is to provide succinct yet substantive information with sufficient depth to cover your selected problem. Remember to include a cover page, table of contents, section headings, and reference list. The length of the proposal is based upon the breadth and depth of your selected topic.

The following general steps in construction of your proposal contain additional specific information requirements.

Step 1: Identify a relevant problem along with the associated rationale for the selection of the problem.  Be sure to substantiate content with an authoritative source.
State the problem in a single sentence, tell why it is a problem, and add a citation from a current, authoritative source. For example: Condition X if not addressed may result in Consequence Y (source, year).
Step 2: Describe, using an authoritative source, how the selected health care problem is assessed and measured for quality improvement purposes. Include relevant factors and associated units of measurement.
Select six current authoritative sources that apply to your selected problem. You may consider your problem from an industry, organization, or specific professional level. Be sure to include any industry standards, legal, and ethical considerations that relate to your problem.
Summarize each of the six sources in a succinct sentence or two. Explain how each source directly relates to the problem. Be sure to add an APA formatted citation for each.
Step 3: Propose an industry measure of performance, such as a benchmark, which pertains to the type of organization selected for problem analysis.
State the major factors or performance indicators that directly relate to your problem.
Assign a unit of measurement to each factor (days, dollars, percentage, et cetera.)
Identify the authoritative source(s) used to determine the major factors you selected that relate to the problem.
Identify which industry assessment tool or framework you will use to analyze the problem.
Step 4: Provide a bulleted list of the preliminary action plan steps to complete the capstone health care problem analysis project. Examples include: conduct library search, formulate problem statement, identify factors and units of measure, and so on.

Additional Requirements
Length: 3 to 10 double-spaced pages.  Outline length will vary based on your selected topic.
Font: Use Times New Roman, 12 point font.
APA: Provide a minimum of six APA-formatted citations and references to current, scholarly and/or authoritative sources.
Problem selection criteria:  Be sure your selected problem meets all four criteria listed under Preparation.
Writing: Create a clear, well-organized, professional, and generally error-free outline that describes a relevant health care problem.