HPAM 3600: Introduction to Health Policy

Take-home Final Examination 2012

Instructor: Monica Gaughan
Office Hours:
I will not be holding regular Wednesday office hours on the 5th due to other commitments.
I will hold office hours on Thursday, December 6 from 2 to 4 and by appointment. Email
monica.gaughan@gmail.com is the best way to reach me.
Instructions:
1. Put your UGA 810 ID number at the top of the first page. Save the electronic
version with your 810 number followed by the word ONE, TWO or THREE (to
denote which option you chose to answer). Your name should not appear on your
exam or in its electronic title.
2. Paginate!
3. You will answer only one of the three choices.
4. Your answer should be typed, double-spaced, and not to exceed five pages.
5. This is an open book exam. You may use any resource you wish, including your
colleagues. The actual written work that you hand in should be entirely your own.
6. Everything countsaccuracy, organization, addressing every element of the
questions, spelling and grammar. Feel free to use subheadings liberally to help
orient the reader. Above all, please show evidence of higher order thought.
7. The exam is due to me at monica.gaughan@gmail.com AND Mark Lamoreaux at
hardroc59@gmail.com no later than 7 PM on Tuesday December 11, 2012.
Mark will send you email confirmation of receipt.
Option 1:
Medical training
For this choice, please refer to the Dartmouth Initiative on Residency, October 2012,
What Kind of Physician Will You Be? Variation in Health Care and Its Importance for
Residency Training. Any student can choose this optionnot just those bound for
medical school. You may find Teitelbaum and Wilensky, Ch 11, Healthcare Quality
Policy and Law helpful.
a. Begin your analysis with an explanation of what is meant by market variations
in resource utilization and health spending. Give specific examples from the
article to illustrate these concepts.
b. In your own words, explain the differences among effective care, supplysensitive care, and preference-sensitive care. How do each of these relate to
health care quality and cost?
c. Demonstrate that you understand what an Accountable Care Organization is by
using one of the measures in Tables 1, 2 or 3 to illustrate how an ACO may
operate to improve the outcome (hint: the measures are the columns).
d.
e. A significant part of this report discusses variation in end-of-life care at major US
teaching hospitals. If you are planning to become a physician, what are some of
your thoughts about this section with respect to preferences about your own
medical training?