For this assessment, you will continue in your role as external health care efficiency consultant to your care coordination unit or organization.

In Assessment 2, you will build on the work you completed in Assessment 1. Note: If you chose the hypothetical practice setting as the basis for your work in Assessment 1, continue to use that setting for this assessment.

PREPARATION

For this assessment, you will continue in your role as external health care efficiency consultant to your care coordination unit or organization.

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Your program evaluation report was well received by the administration. As an addendum to your report, you have been asked to follow up on your previous work with an analysis of potential gaps in coordinated care.

To prepare for this assessment, consider how collaboration with various external health care agencies and organizations contributes to successfully coordinated care. Examples of external agencies and organizations include:

• Health departments.
• Hospitals and satellite units.
• Ambulatory surgery centers.
• Outpatient dialysis units and birthing centers.
• Clinics (inpatient, outpatient, walk-in, urgent care).
• Community health centers.
• Physicians’ offices.
• Mobile health care units.
• Nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.
• Hospice centers.

ASSESSMENT SUBMISSIONS

For this assessment, you will submit the following three documents:

1. A concept map illustrating the relationships between available health services and resources and the care coordination process.
2. A narrative description of your concept-mapping process.
3. A written gap analysis of potential gaps in care within your unit or organization (or the hypothetical setting provided).

Note: Remember that you can submit all, or a portion, of your draft documents to Smarthinking for feedback before you submit the final version for this assessment. However, be mindful of the turnaround time of 24–48 hours for receiving feedback, if you plan on using this free service.

REQUIREMENTS

Analyze potential gaps in care within your unit or organization. Note: You may continue using your own unit or organization for the gap analysis, or you may use the same hypothetical practice setting provided in the first assessment.

Gap Analysis Format and Length

Format your document using APA style.

• Use the APA Style Paper Template (linked in Required Resources). An APA Style Paper Tutorial is also provided (linked in Suggested Resources) to help you in writing and formatting your gap analysis. Be sure to include:
  • A title page and references page. An abstract is not required.
  • A running head on all pages.
  • Appropriate section headings.
• Your gap analysis should be 6–8 pages in length, not including the title page and references page.

Supporting Evidence

Cite at least 5–7 sources of credible, scholarly or professional evidence to support your analysis.

CONDUCTING YOUR GAP ANALYSIS

The requirements outlined below correspond to the grading criteria in the scoring guide. Be sure that your gap analysis addresses each point, at a minimum. You may also want to read the Gap Analysis Scoring Guide to better understand how each criterion will be assessed.

• Explain how the health services and resources available in your local community or a community that you are familiar with contribute to the care coordination process throughout the continuum of care.
  • Examine the types of care support provided and the potential impact on care coordination.
  • Create a concept map, based on your analysis of support provided, illustrating the relationships between available health services and resources and the care coordination process. Concept mapping offers a robust way to visually illustrate relationships between concepts and ideas.
  • Write a narrative description of your concept mapping process.
  • Examples of health services and resources include:
    • Primary care.
    • Emergency care.
    • Dental and vision care.
    • Physical and occupational therapy.
    • Mental health services.
    • Home health care.
    • Health promotion and illness prevention services.
    • Chronic disease management.
    • Immunization and laboratory services.
    • Health technologies (telemedicine/telehealth, wireless and portable devices, self-service kiosks).
    • Counseling and additction treatment.
    • Hospice and palliative care.

Note: You may find it useful to refer to the Concept Maps page, linked in Suggested Resources, to gain a greater understanding about creating and utilizing this tool.

• Explain how the needs of patients, individual communities, and populations can directly influence the success or failure of a care coordination plan after it is implemented.
  • Consider both positive and negative influences.
  • Provide evidence to support your assertions and conclusions.
• Identify gaps in community health services and resources.
  • Consider the needs of patients, individual communities, or populations throughout the care continuum.
• Identify applicable clinical guidelines and standards from national policy or regulatory organizations as evidence for gaps. For example:
  • Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
  • Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI).
• Write clearly and concisely, using correct grammar and mechanics.
  • Express your main points and conclusions coherently.
  • Proofread your writing to minimize errors that could distract readers and make it more difficult for them to focus on the substance of your analysis.
• Support main points, claims, and conclusions with relevant and credible evidence, correctly formatting citations and references using current APA style.
  • Is your supporting evidence clear and explicit?
  • How or why does particular evidence support a claim?
  • Will your audience see the connection?

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

Be sure to submit the following three documents for this assessment:

• Your concept map.
• A narrative description of your concept-mapping process.
• Your gap analysis.

Be sure that you have used the APA Style Paper Template to format your gap analysis and that your document includes:

• A title page and references page.
• A running head on all pages.
• Appropriate section headings.

In addition, be sure that:

• Your gap analysis is approximately 6–8 pages in length, not including the title page and references page.
• You have cited at least 5–7 sources of relevant and credible scholarly or professional evidence to support your analysis.
• Portfolio Prompt: You may choose to save your gap analysis to your ePortfolio.