Milestone One (HCM)

Overview

The focus of this module was on quality care. For your final project, you will research a healthcare gap in access of care that focuses on quality, equity, or efficiency. You will be focusing on:

• Existing initiatives in place to address the gap
• The economic and regulatory factors that are currently in place to address the gap
• Background research into the gap and the impacted population

A healthcare delivery process gap is defined as the gap in care between what is provided to patients and the recommended best practices in healthcare.

Prompt

In Module Two you completed an annotated bibliography based on a selected healthcare delivery process gap and population affected from the list below. This will be the focus of your final project, the healthcare delivery systems research paper.

• Option One: A gap in quality related to care coordination for individuals with chronic illnesses
• Option Two: A gap in equity related to mental health access for veterans
• Option Three: A gap in efficiency related to the rising cost of pharmaceuticals for the aging population

In your paper, you will explain why the chosen topic is a gap in healthcare and analyze the specific population impacted by the issue. The work you do in this milestone will serve as the introduction to your final project. Specifically, you should address the following:

1. Introduction
2. Describe a specific gap in the delivery of healthcare. Include the specific population affected by the gap.
3. Briefly describe the history of this gap in access to healthcare.
4. Explain the impact that the socioeconomic background of the population has on their access to healthcare.
5. Describe how the healthcare delivered to the population is affected by the gap in access to quality, equity, or efficiency of care.
6. Predict any potential implications if this gap in access is not addressed.

What to Submit

Use the Milestone One Template to complete this assignment. Your paper must be submitted as a 2- to 3-page Microsoft Word document with double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, and include at least three sources cited in APA format.