Children and adults often present with complaints of ear pain. Your differential diagnoses should include otitis media and otitis externa, in addition to other possibilities such as foreign body obstruction and cerumen impactions. Give a brief overview of otitis media and otitis externa, including signs and symptoms of the most common causative agents for both. In addition, discuss the physical exam findings that you might see with the conditions when visualizing various parts of the ear such as ear canal or the tympanic membrane. How will your assessment of the ear differ in children versus adults? What would be essential health history questions to ask patients that present with ear pain and why? Support your answers with appropriate references.

1. Assignment 2: Middleville Regional Healthcare

   Due Week 9 and worth 160 points

    

   Middleville Regional Health Care is one (1) of three (3) hospitals serving a community of 350,000 people. Summary statistics on Middleville and its competitors, from the AHA Guide, are shown below in Table 1. All three organizations are not-for-profit.

    

   Table 1: Middleville, Brierfield, and Greystone Health Care Systems

    

   Name	Beds	Admissions	Census	OP Visits	Births	Expenses (000)	Personnel
   Middleville	575	13,000	350	221,000	2,300	$125,000	2,000
   Brierfield	380	17,000	260	175,000	1,200	$130,000	1,875
   Greystone	350	10,000	180	40,000	900	$80,000	1,200

    

   The governing board of Middleville hired a consulting company to evaluate its strategic performance, specifically in the areas of Human Resources, Information Technology, Financing, and Marketing. As part of the consultant’s evaluation, several leaders of Middleville’s units were asked their perspective of the organization’s performance.

    

   You are working for the consultant. Your job is to identify the issues from the response that should be considered further by the consultant team and possibly discussed with the governing board and the CEO. The firm has a rule, “Never offer a criticism or negative finding without suggesting how the client organization can correct it,” so you must indicate what sort of correction you would recommend as part of your list. Because you know there were about two (2) dozen other interviews, you decide you should rank your issues in importance, to make sure the most critical are discussed.

    

   Write a six to eight (6-8) page paper in which you:

   1. Explain the governing board’s role in these strategic initiatives, determining its responsibility and involvement.
   2. Evidence-based management means that operational and strategic decisions are made based upon the evidence that goals and objectives are actually being met. Quantitative measurements must be identified and measured. This data is then used to evaluate the HCO’s performance. Name three (3) performances Middleville can use to measure its success in providing quality healthcare to the community, and identify quantifiable, measureable indicators that can be used to do so. Explain the importance of each performance measurement.
   3. Given the statistics of Middleville and its two (2) competitors provided in Table 1, recommend to the HCO what areas it should focus on to maintain its competitive market share as well as continue to provide healthcare to the community in the 21^st century.
   4. Some of Middleville’s Board members are very interested in pursuing advanced technology systems over the next five (5) years, while others are concerned about the enormous expense and need assurance that the investment in technology will be worthwhile. In both monetary and process terms, describe the costs and benefits associated with implementing EMR and associated health data systems. Lay out a plan for how various systems can be implemented.
   5. Middleville has faced many challenges in recruiting and retaining nurses and other clinical employees. The economy has hit the area very hard and budgetary limitations have reduced the amount of money available for salary increases. The Board knows it needs to provide other benefits to their valued employees. Provide at least two (2) suggestions to Human Resources to promote employee satisfaction and, therefore, retain experienced personnel.
   6. Use at least three (3) quality resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as quality resources.
   7. Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:

   a.     Typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.

   b.    Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.

   c.     Include a reference page. Citations and references must follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.

    

   The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

   • Examine how healthcare management concepts and theories are applied to critical issues in healthcare organizations.
   • Analyze the critical management issues, purpose, functions, and performance measures of different departments within healthcare organizations.
   • Explain how public policy has shaped the development of the U.S. healthcare system.
   • Use technology and information resources to research issues in health services organization management.
   • Write clearly and concisely about health services organization management using proper writing mechanics.

   Click here to view the grading rubric for this assignment.

    

2. By submitting this paper, you agree: (1) that you are submitting your paper to be used and stored as part of the SafeAssign™ services in accordance with the Blackboard Privacy Policy; (2) that your institution may use your paper in accordance with your institution’s policies; and (3) that your use of SafeAssign will be without recourse against Blackboard Inc. and its affiliates.