Introduction to Healthcare and Public Health in the US: Delivering Healthcare
(Part 2)
Discussion Questions with Expected Outcomes
Discussion questions (for individual assignments or small group discussion):
1. What is outpatient care?
Expected Outcome: Outpatient care refers to care that is not provided in hospitals, in
outpatient facilities
Outcome of discussion: student should be able to define outpatient care and contrast
with other types of care such as inpatient care.
Objective(s): 1
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): a3
2. Discuss the important characteristics of primary care. In your opinion, which is
the feature of primary care that most appeals to you?
Expected Outcomes: Primary care is the provision of integrated, accessible healthcare
services by clinicians who are accountable for addressing a large majority of personal
healthcare needs, developing a sustained partnership with patients, and practicing in
the context of family and community
Outcome of discussion: student should be able to select a characteristic of primary care
and defend their selection.
Objective(s): 1
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): a5-7, a9-10
3. What do you think are the main factors that foster the clinician-patient
relationship?
Expected Outcomes: Sustained partnership, meeting mutual expectations, mutual
respect, mutual trust
Objective(s): 1, 3
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): a14-15
4. What is the primary difference between internal medicine and family practice
physicians?
Health IT Workforce Curriculum
Version 3.0/Spring 2012
Introduction to Healthcare and
Public Health in the US
Delivering Healthcare (Part 2)
This material (Comp1_Unit3) was developed by Oregon Health and Science University, funded by the Department of Health and
Human Services, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology under Award Number IU24OC000015.
1
Expected Outcomes: Family practice physicians see patients of all ages, and some of
them provide obstetric care while internal medicine physicians only see adults and they
do not provide obstetric services.
Objective(s): 3
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): b4-5
5. Do you think primary care is in crisis? Defend your position.
Expected Outcomes: Issues include an increasing number of older patients with
complex medical issues, imperfect coverage of preventive care services, an emphasis
on documentation, a complex billing and compensation system, decreasing number of
physicians practicing primary care leading to a supply-demand imbalance, a greater
dependence on after-hours acre, and the increasing cost of healthcare delivery
Outcome of discussion: The weight of medical literature suggests that there is a supplydemand imbalance in primary care. The student should be able to identify that there is a
need for a greater number of primary care providers, and justify their logic during the
discussion.
Objective(s): 1, 2, 3
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): b14-17
6. If you had the necessary authority, how will you solve the primary care crisis?
Expected Outcomes: Options include health reform and federal stimulus funds, training,
grants for training and educational innovation, recruitment, loan forgiveness and other
financial inducements, international medical graduates in positions that are not filled by
US trained graduates
Outcome of discussion: the class should be encouraged to approach the problem from
different perspectives.
Objective(s): 1, 2, 3
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): b18
7. What are the differences between urgent care centers and emergency
departments?
Expected Outcomes: level of care, urgent care centers not intended to treat lifethreatening emergencies.
Objective(s): 1, 2
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): c4-7
Health IT Workforce Curriculum
Version 3.0/Spring 2012
Introduction to Healthcare and
Public Health in the US
Delivering Healthcare (Part 2)
This material (Comp1_Unit3) was developed by Oregon Health and Science University, funded by the Department of Health and
Human Services, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology under Award Number IU24OC000015.
2
8. What is the best setting to treat the following conditions (choose between
primary care clinic, urgent care center, and emergency room):
a. A 24 year old male with a sore throat, cough, without fever, wheezing, rash or
other constitutional symptoms.
Expected Outcomes: in the primary care clinic (acute, limited, but not life-threatening
condition) or in a retail clinic
Objective(s): 1, 3
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): b3, c3
b. A 46 year old female who twisted her ankle and now has some swelling and
bruising around the inner aspect of her ankle.
Expected Outcomes: in an urgent care center (needs acute diagnosis but not lifethreatening, alternatively patient may be seen in a primary care clinic, if a same day
appointment is available and X ray facilities are convenient)
Objective(s): 1, 3
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): b3, c4-5
c. A 68 year old male with a one hour history of severe chest pain, accompanied
by sweating, palpitations, and a sensation that he is going to pass out.
Expected Outcomes: in the emergency room (urgent, serious, potentially life-threatening
condition)
Objective(s): 1, 3
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): c7
9. Why do you think the number of ER visits increased from 90.3 million in 1996 to
119.2 million in 2006?
Expected Outcomes: Amongst others, some reasons include the increasing US
population, decreasing number of primary care providers and options for care,
increasing number of patients who use ERs for non-emergency primary care, state of
the national and local economy (decreased jobs, decreased number of patients with
health insurance)
Objective(s): 1, 2
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): c7, c9
Health IT Workforce Curriculum
Version 3.0/Spring 2012
Introduction to Healthcare and
Public Health in the US
Delivering Healthcare (Part 2)
This material (Comp1_Unit3) was developed by Oregon Health and Science University, funded by the Department of Health and
Human Services, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology under Award Number IU24OC000015.
3
10. Discuss strategies to reduce inappropriate ER visits in your community.
Expected Outcomes: Patient education, establish medical homes, use telephone triage
systems, improve after hours care availability, increase enrollment in safety net
programs, simplify health information for patients.
Outcome of discussion: This topic could be led by the instructor, who will have
significant knowledge about the local healthcare landscape.
Objective(s): 1, 3
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): c11
11. What are some of the branches of pathology and how do these fields help
clinicians manage their patients?
Expected Outcomes: Anatomical pathology, surgical pathology, chemical pathology,
hematopathology, blood banking, cytogenetics, microbiology, forensic pathology,
molecular pathology. Diagnostic role of pathology helps clinician manage patient’s
medical issues.
Objective(s): 1, 2
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): d4-6
12. Discuss some of the advances in radiology from the time of Wilhelm Röntgen
to the present day. Do you think that the advances in radiologic technology have
improved patient care?
Expected Outcomes: X-rays, ultrasound, advanced imaging techniques such as CT,
MRI and PET scans, nuclear medicine scans, preventive screening such as
mammograms and bone density tests (DEXA scan), angiography and invasive
radiology.
Objective(s): 1, 2
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): d8-9
13. How does a multidisciplinary approach help hospice patients?
Expected Outcomes: Involvement of multiple disciplines such as a physician, a social
worker, nurses, home health aides, pain management specialists and a chaplain help to
provided integrated medical, psychosocial, and spiritual care in a collaborative fashion
that alleviates the patients’ suffering, controls pain and other noxious symptoms, and
improves the quality of their life.
Health IT Workforce Curriculum
Version 3.0/Spring 2012
Introduction to Healthcare and
Public Health in the US
Delivering Healthcare (Part 2)
This material (Comp1_Unit3) was developed by Oregon Health and Science University, funded by the Department of Health and
Human Services, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology under Award Number IU24OC000015.
4
Objective(s): 2, 3
Slide(s): d12
14. Have you ever been to a primary care office, either for your own health needs
or for the needs of your family? Describe the people you met at the office during
your visit, your perception of their role, and how you feel they fit into the
organization structure of the clinic. Do you think some roles are more essential
than others?
Expected Outcomes: Front office, clinical team, back office role. The clinician is key to
the visit, but during the discussion emphasize the importance of interdisciplinary teams
in healthcare.
Outcome of discussion: Encourage students to recount their own experiences and
discuss it in class. Avoid letting students mention protected health information, the focus
should be on the setting and the workflow, rather than on the disease, diagnosis and
treatment.
Objective(s): 1, 2, 3
Slide(s): e3-12
Health IT Workforce Curriculum
Version 3.0/Spring 2012
Introduction to Healthcare and
Public Health in the US
Delivering Healthcare (Part 2)
This material (Comp1_Unit3) was developed by Oregon Health and Science University, funded by the Department of Health and
Human Services, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology under Award Number IU24OC000015.
5