ReportHealthcare delivery

Individual Assignment on Healthcare Services

Whether the facility is hospital-affiliated or independent changes its billing, its obligations and what happens when a patient needs admitting. Everything else follows from that.

Editorial process

Last reviewed · August 25, 2026

Written by

Maren Caldwell

MSN, RN, CNE

Medical-surgical nursing, pharmacology and NCLEX preparation

Reviewed by

Dr. Tessa Redmond

DNP, RN, CNE

Evidence-based practice and clinical education

On this page

Interpret the task
Assignment instructions
Deliverables
Proposed outline
Research plan
Reference shortlist
Final review

Affiliation is the variable everything depends on

Free-standing emergency departments come in two forms and conflating them makes the whole analysis unreliable. A hospital-affiliated facility operates as an off-campus department of a hospital, can bill under the hospital's provider number, and carries the federal obligation to screen and stabilise anyone who presents. An independent facility does not have that provider status, is licensed under state rules that differ substantially between states, and may not be recognised by Medicare at all, which shapes both its payer mix and its patients' bills. Say which model you are advising on, or analyse both, but do not write as though there were one. Say which model you are advising on, or analyse both, but do not write as though there were only one, because the pros and cons differ substantially between them and a recommendation built on the wrong one is not merely incomplete. The two forms are licensed differently and paid differently.

The pros are real and worth stating fairly. Shorter waits and geographic access in communities without a nearby hospital emergency department are genuine, capital cost is far below a hospital build, and the facility can decompress a crowded main department. So are the cons, and they cluster around the patient who turns out to need more than the facility can give: a patient requiring admission has to be transferred, which adds time and a second bill, and services such as advanced imaging, catheterisation and surgery are not on site. The billing question is the one that generates the news coverage the brief points at. For a CEO the decision therefore turns on siting, on payer mix in the catchment, on transfer arrangements, and on whether the organisation can carry the reputational risk of surprise billing. Patients frequently do not realise that a facility resembling an urgent care centre charges an emergency facility fee, and an insurer may not treat it as in-network.

Likely learning objectives

Distinguish hospital-affiliated from independent free-standing facilities.
Connect provider status to billing and to federal obligations.
Identify the transfer problem as the central clinical limitation.
Assess surprise billing as a reputational as well as financial risk.

Assignment instructions

Read the full question

Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.

Assignment Individual Assignment on Healthcare Services Individual Assignment on Healthcare Services How healthcare services are provided is constantly changing. While historically, emergency departments (ED) was physically located within the hospital building, the standalone Emergency Department also referred to as the Free Standing Emergency Department (FSED) has become a new model for delivery of emergency services within communities. Consider yourself in the role of a consultant to a healthcare organization, financial manager, or ED administrative director. You have been asked to provide the CEO and leadership with pros and cons of establishing a Free Standing Emergency Department. You are aware of the news stories about these types of facilities, and you will want to review The Washington Post article at this link as you prepare your review. Include in your discussion: Differences between off campus emergency departments (OCEDs) and independent free standing emergency centers (IFECs). What would be the advantage to the healthcare organization of an OCED? How would services provided be reimbursed either by private insurance or Medicare/Medicaid? What are the advantages or disadvantages to the community of an FSED? Would members of the community favor an OCED or an IFEC? Why are most of the FSEDs located in Texas, Colorado and Ohio? Based on your research and the news stories about FSEDs, what would you recommend to the CEO and Board of Directors? NOTE: Use at least two scholarly references and cite using APA format. Individual Assignment on Healthcare Services Module 2: Discussion Attached Files: File Discussion Board Rubric.docx (15.017 KB) UTA CNHI Logo| Module 2: Discussion Assignment Individual Assignment on Healthcare Services Politics, Stress, and Sleep question-bubble.png In your reading assignments for this module, you read about a classic example of politics and health promotion in the episode of Rick Perry and the HPV vaccine. For your original post, cite another example of politics and a health promotion topic. An example could be smoking cessation and politics (whether on the local, state, or national level). Thoroughly explain how politics and the selected health promotion topic are related. Your post should clearly demonstrate a thorough understanding of the example being provided. Remember to include an APA formatted in-text citation and corresponding reference from a recent (within last 5 years) professional journal or website (NIH, CDC, etc.). Provide your initial post, then engage at least two of your online colleagues in a discussion about his/her initial posts. Therefore, you should have at least one initial post and one response to each of two colleagues. Please note that your postings and responses must be “substantive”, which means that they are to be made AFTER you have read the assigned course material and additional self-chosen material. Please note that your Discussion Board assignments are worth a significant part of your course grade, therefore, you are expected to put thought and effort into these entries. Original post is due by Wednesday at 2359, and the two responses to peers are due by Saturday of Module 2 at 2359. An APA formatted in-text citation and corresponding reference from a recent (within last 5 years) professional journal or website (NIH, CDC, etc.) are required in your initial discussion post.

Course-wide instructions that accompany this question

Important information for writing discussion questions and participation Hi Class, Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts. Contact me if you have any questions. Important information on Writing a Discussion Question Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references) There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article. Include in-text citations in your response Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information Follow APA-7th edition Points will be deducted if the above is not followed Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week. Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references) Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count. Follow APA 7th edition Points will be deducted if the above is not followed Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points. Here are some helpful links Student paper example Citing Sources The Writing Center is a great resource Welcome to class Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to. I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you. Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted. If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations. Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements. Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week. I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!

What the leadership review requires

01A review for the CEO and leadership giving the pros and cons of establishing a free-standing emergency department.
02The differences between a free-standing emergency department and a hospital-based one.
03Consideration of the news coverage of these facilities, including the referenced article.
04A recommendation grounded in the organisation's circumstances.