Comparative Analysis Essay

Purpose: Although there isn’t a single reason, comparison allows us to identify the areas for improvement in our own system. As you have learned in the module, resources available for healthcare— human and monetary—are limited, so spending on the areas that stand to produce the most impact is critical to reducing spending, improving outcomes, and long-term sustainability.

Similar to the way your unit, office, or organization may benchmark its outcomes against national outcomes or those of comparable institutions to determine future courses of action, country-to-country comparisons allow us to do the same
for several key indicators of our healthcare system. The staff nurse is the hub of the interprofessional unit that cares for a client; the DNP graduate is the hub of the intersection between practice, research, and policy and should be prepared to critically analyze the major drivers of policy (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2006).

Comparative Analysis Essay Instructions

Use the factors in the steps below to compare and contrast the U.S. healthcare system to
those of other developed (high income) countries. You can compare the U.S. to one or multiple other countries to complete the assignment. Clear statements of compare/contrast, analysis, or insight gained from your research should be included throughout as should the relevant statistical and numerical data to illustrate your findings.
Step 1: Access and Affordability of Care:
(a) population of uninsured citizens
(b) rate of physicians per 1000 people
(c) average number of doctor visits annually
(d) out-of-pocket healthcare costs
(e) rate of missed physician consultations due to cost
Step 2: Population Health:
(a) chronic disease prevalence
(b) hospital-related/patient safety outcomes
(c) mortality rates
(d) life expectancy at birth
Step 3: National and State Economics:
(a) percent of national gross domestic product spent on healthcare
(b) national healthcare expenditure per capita
(c) national price regulation efforts and results
(d) state Medicare spending per beneficiary (How does this compare to other states?
What does the information potentially reflect about population health in your state?
What is the relationship between this figure and national healthcare spending?)

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Additional Notes:

• The paper should be approximately 7 pages in length (excluding title and reference pages).
• This is a formal paper and should include and introduction and a conclusion and avoid the use of first
  person.
• The paper should be organized with APA-formatted headings that are consistent with rubric order.
• Peer-reviewed references, evidence (results of formal inquiry published in the literature), and current
  data are your primary types of support and are necessary to develop posts as expected. There should
  be a minimum of 7 references included as support for your work.
  Submission Instructions: The paper should be submitted as either a Word document or a PDF to the
  designated space. Your work will automatically be submitted to Turnitin upon submission to the course.
  Step 4: Current Issues and Global Health. Choose and address the prompts for ONE (1) of the following:
  A. Health Disparities: Review the concept of health disparity as defined by Kaiser
  Family Foundation. Choose a group of people identified in the definition and
  discuss the causes of health disparities in that population, and explain how
  they lead to poorer outcomes. Discuss an example of legislative policy
  designed to address the chosen population’s health and its impact thus far.
  Research and recommend evidence-based strategies to be considered in
  future legislative policy regarding this population (In your discussion, you must
  explain the data that supports the effectiveness or impact of your
  recommendation).
  B. Immigrant Health: Contrast how health insurance coverage and healthcare
  utilization rates differ among U.S. residents based on immigration status (eg,
  undocumented, lawfully present, naturalized). What barriers to insurance and
  care do immigrants face, and what are the consequences of those barriers?
  How do healthcare expenditure rates differ between immigrants and U.S.-born
  citizens? Provide an evidence-supported discussion of the ethical and
  economic implications of health status and insurance access among immigrants
  (Consider examining a state that has a high immigrant population—California,
  Texas, New York—when preparing your answer).
  C. Health and Climate Change: Explain why policies that address maternal and
  child health are relevant to any country’s future public health and economic
  standing. Provide a detailed and supported discussion of the relationship
  between climate change and maternal and newborn health outcomes. How
  might these issues be exacerbated in low-income communities? What roles can
  the healthcare community assume in addressing the effects of climate change
  on health?