Assignment Option 1: The U.S. Healthcare System: Analysis of a Healthcare Sector

Your portfolio assignment focuses on a specific sector of healthcare and its relation to the current U.S. healthcare system. Choose one of the healthcare sectors listed below for your portfolio assignment:

• Hospitals
• Long-term Care
• Mental and Behavioral Health
• Ambulatory Care
• For-Profit/Public Health Care.

Write a ten to twelve page paper where you address the following:

• Describe of the sectors historical development and current role in healthcare delivery.
• Explain how the political influence in the U.S. healthcare system impacts how this sector provides healthcare to specific communities.
• Evaluate how quality, safety, and competition within this healthcare sector impact patient care.
• Examine what major challenges exist for this sector for the system over the next decade from healthcare reform and other factors. Discuss a minimum of three challenges and offer your recommendations on how healthcare leaders and administrators can manage them.
• Provide a conclusion summary of your findings and of the project experience.

Your paper should meet the following requirements:

• Be ten to twelve pages in length, not including the cover or reference pages
• Be formatted according to the CSU-Global Guide to Writing and APA Requirements
• Provide support for your statements with in-text citations from a minimum of eight scholarly references - four of these references must be from outside sources and four may be from course readings, lectures, and textbooks. The CSU-Global Library is a good place to find these references.

Utilize the following headings to organize the content in your work.

• Introduction
• Historical Development and Current Role in Healthcare Delivery
• Political Influence
• Quality, Safety, and Competition
• Future Challenges and Issues
• Recommendations
• Conclusion