This document discusses three cases involving issues in healthcare organizations that led to negative patient outcomes or violations of policies/laws. The first case involves a medication error and lack of patient monitoring at a hospital that led to a patient's disability. The second case involves potential insurance fraud at an insurance company where medical decisions were made without proper review of patient records. The third case discusses extremely long wait times at a veterans hospital that led to deaths, and an attempt to hide wait time data. The document provides these cases as options for an assignment analyzing organizational structures, policies, ethics, and laws to develop a risk management or compliance plan to address the issues and prevent future occurrences.

1. Running head: GUN CONTROL DILEMMA
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GUN CONTROL DILEMMA
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Gun Control Dilemma
Student's Name:
Institutional Affiliation:
Gun Control Dilemma
Today’s society has seen public shootings occur for numerous
reasons. From pro-life fanatics to racist extremists, the only
common ground that most of the shooters have is that they use
guns to kill innocent victims. Gun control has been a
controversial topic in the news, but not much has changed in
regard to gun laws. Every time a news story about a new mass
shooting hits the media, politicians take advantage of the event
and push for tightening gun laws. However, no prominent
change can be seen in regard to this matter and consequently,
the news stories about mass shootings are never-ending. One
would think that the increase in mass shootings would increase
the number of people wanting to ban guns. Therefore, this paper
recommends several small solutions that will push gun control
laws and public opinion in the right direction (Ruggiero, 2012).
Strict gun control may be what the country needs to make the
violence come to a standing halt. However, finding a solution to
this decade-long problem is not simple. It may be easy to say
that any State needs to tighten gun control laws, but doing so is
an uphill battle. Gun rights advocates such as the NRA, or
National Rifle Association, fight for the protection of the 2nd

2. amendment while those who are pro-gun control disagree
(Spitzer, 2017). The best option for any country is to slowly
begin to impose tighter regulation on various facets of gun
control rather than make a sweeping change to one aspect of it.
This way, both sides may agree to a middle ground and progress
will finally be made. Instead of imposing one strict solution,
Educating the public on the actual numbers behind gun-related
events and statistics may be one of the easiest policies to
instate. It can be predicted that this will also face little
opposition, as the form of education that this paper recommends
is not biased one way or the other (DeConde, 2011). Simply
stating the numbers behind gun control issues may help matters
sway towards stricter policies. This may be a catalyst to begin
moving public opinion towards tighter gun control laws. For
example, if more citizens were educated on the impact that gun
control laws have had on safety in Australia, they might be
more inclined to vote for stricter laws. Next, an argument that
pro-gun civilians have been adamant of is that firearms are
required in matters of self-defense.
Another means of tightening gun control without wreaking
social havoc is to require more substantial and frequently
renewed background checks. It has been cited that nearly 90%
of Americans surveyed are in favour of “expanded background
checks” (Davidson, 2008). However, this has not yet passed
through Congress. The NRA has great influence over Congress
and maybe the cause of this bill not yet passing. Maybe once
step one, educating the public has been enacted, this notion will
finally pass through Congress and be enforced across the
country. In Germany, all buyers under 25 must pass a
psychiatric evaluation (Donohue).
In conclusion, the small solutions outlined in this paper may be
the right move for policymakers to follow. A combination of
increased education, a mandatory buyback of lethal firearms,

3. and tighter and more thorough background checks will help
move in the right direction to strengthen gun control laws.
Hopefully, if these measures are instituted, the events such as
the horrible killings of the Sandy Hook massacre where twenty
children and six adults were fatally shot will because less
common to hear about in the news. We have become
emotionally immune to hearing about these massacres as they
have become frequent news stories. Hopefully, in the near
future, these kinds of news stories will be scarce and
uncommon.
References
Davidson, O. G. (2008). Under fire: The NRA and the battle for
gun control. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press.
DeConde, A. (2011). Gun violence in America: The struggle for
control. Boston: Northeastern University Press.
Ruggiero, V. R. (2012). Thinking critically about ethical issues
(8th ed.). New York: Mc-Graw Hill.
Spitzer, R. J. (2017). The Politics of Gun Control. Milton:
Taylor and Francis.
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Week 8
Improving Patient Outcomes
Throughout this course, you have studied the
theoretical underpinnings of ethics and the
laws and regulations associatedwith healthcare, as

4. well as useful applications for both.
In Week 1, you read about the costsof
unethical behavior. This week, you will
review cases, based on actual events that
further explore the level of damage due
to unethical and illegal actions in healthcare
settings.
In Week 2, you gained an understanding of
the sources and function of U.S. law.
This week, you will need to revisit those
concepts to determine whether thereare
legal precedents and legal opinions for cases similar
to the ones presented below.
In Week 3, you learned about legal violations,
whether they were civil (i.e.,
contracts, torts, and specifically, medical negligence)
and/or criminal law (i.e.,
misdemeanors, felonies) and ways to avoid such
violations. Similarly, this weekyou
will provide recommendations to help prevent future
violations.
In Week 4, you researched the roles,
responsibilities, and possible liabilities of
healthcareprofessions and healthcareorganizations. Now,

5. you need to determine
who was at fault of the violations that occurred in
the cases you’ll read about in
this week’s resources.
In Week 5, you analyzed a national policy
related to the allocation of resources and
access to care. This week, you will consider how
thesecases impacted the issues of
resource allocation and access to care.
In Week 6, you explained the issues that may
arise as a result of advanced health
technology, and in Week 7, you developed a
tool to assesorganizational readiness
for corporate compliance. This week, you will decide
if your organization has the
structure and systems in place to address the
challenges that result from bioethics
and possible fraud and abuse violations.
Be sure to review this week's resources carefully.
You are expected to apply the
information from theseresources when you prepare
your assignments.
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Books and Resources for this Week
Holyoak, J. (2017). Rethinking denial
management. Most organizations take an
administrative approach to managing denials.
Maybe that’s why they’re...
Link
Miller, R., & Chalapati,N. (2015). Utilizing
lean tools to improve value and reduce
outpatient wait times in an Indian hospital.
Leadership...
Link
Shor, R. (2015). Using appropriate use criteria
to address pre-authorization. Journal of the
American College of Cardiology, 66(11),
1300-1302.
Link

7. American Medical Association. (2011).
Standardization of prior authorization process
for medical services.
Link
American Medical Association. Council on
Medical Services. (2017). Report 7 of the
Council on Medical Service (A-16). Priorauth
PDF document
Gateway Health. (2005). Medical payment
and prior authorization policy.
Link
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HPSO. (2018). Sample risk management plan
for healthcarebusinesses & practices.
Link
Week 8 – Signature Assignment: Facilitate
Changing of
Corporate Culture to Improve Patient Outcomes
Assignment
Due August 11 at 11:59 PM
Medical and otherhealthcare-related scandals are too
oftenreported in the news. We
oftenread of individuals purchasing a unique
pharmaceutical, then raising the price
dramatically, massive Medicare fraud schemes, poor
security or tracking measures at
hospitals allowing a baby to go home with the
wrong family or be stolen by a
stranger,
major leaksof or unauthorized access to
confidential patient data, and clinicians and other
healthcareprofessionals paying kickbacks for referrals or
engaging in self-referral
activities.

9. Below are threedifferent sample cases that you
can select from when completing your
assignment.
Case 1: Medication Error and a Lack of Patient
Monitoring
You are the risk officer at a community
hospital. About six weeks ago, a patient
with flu-
like symptoms arrived at your hospital. They had tried
self-medicating for several days but
received no relief from a persistent cough and
shortness of breath. They complained of
general fatigue, body aches, and chills. Their
recorded temperature was 102°F. The patient
was prescribed IV fluids and the standard
medication but did not see an improvement in
their condition after 24 hours. The attending physician
gave the nurse orders to adjust the
patient’s medication. It was later discovered that
the nurse didn’t administer the correct
dose. Furthermore, therewas a lack of
documentation to determine how oftenthe
patient’s condition was monitored after the last modified
dose of the medication was

10. administered. You see a gap in time of more than an
hour when the nurse was requested
to monitor the patient closely. The patient
suffered cardiac arrest. The patient was
successfully resuscitated but has suffered from brain
damage that has left them
permanently disabled. The family sued for $1.2 million
but settled out of courtfor a lesser
amount. The CEO has requested that you present a
risk-management plan to the hospital
board that will reduce the likelihood of a similar
situation occurring again.
Case 2: Insurance Company Fraud
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You are part of the leadershipteam at an insurance
company that was
recently sued by a patient for breach of
contract. The patient stated that the company’s

11. failure to authorize treatments for their condition
had near-fatal results. Upon further
investigation, you discover the patient failed to
provide your company the laboratory
results it requested,and that the patient was non-
compliant with their physician’s
prescribed course of treatment. However, the
investigation has also revealed that your
company’s medical director denied the patient’s
treatment without having ever looked at
the patient’s medical records. In fact, your medical
director is not even familiar with the
patient’s rare disease. You and othermembers of the
leadershipteam uncover a culture
where thereis an overdependence on nurses to
review patient records and determine a
course of treatment. For somediseases, particularly
those as rare as the plaintiff’s, a nurse’s
clinical expertise may not be sufficient.The litigation is
still pending, but you have been
asked to present a new pre-authorization policy
and procedures to mitigate potential future

12. suits.
Case 3: ExtremelyLongWait Times to Be Scheduled
for Medical Visits
You are an officer in a federal organization
responsible for providing care to veterans of
the U.S. armed forces. An investigation has
revealed that a local hospital within your
organization has hidden paperwork documenting
that the average wait time for a veteran
to be scheduled for a primary care visit is 115
days. An even greater tragedy is that 40
veterans have died while waiting for an appointment.
It has come to your attention that
administrators and staff were motivated to hide the
evidence documenting the wait times
because the hospital would lose financial incentives
linked to timely scheduling of
appointments. The main office in Washington DC is
coming to the local hospital to extend
the investigation. In anticipation of the main office
administrators’ arrival, you have been
asked to explain the root cause of the
deception and develop a plan and standard
operating procedure to prevent further delays in

13. providing care.
Assignment Instructions:
Select one of the cases to analyze according to
the following considerations:
What is the organizational structure of the
company or agency with which you
work? Who are the influencers? (Provide titles,
not names.)
How are organizational policies drafted, approved, and
disseminated?
Which ethical principles and theories apply to
the scenario you selected?
Which constitutional, statutory, and/or case law could
apply to the scenario you
selected?
Presentation: After researching your selected
scenario, taking into account the
considerations listed above, you will prepare a
presentation which you will present at your
organization’s board meeting. The slides will have
notes consisting of 100-150 words per
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slide and you will provide a voice-over
narration of your PowerPoint
presentation. Due to the urgent nature of your
presentation, you have been placed on an
already full board agenda. Consequently, you must
strictly adhere to 15 minutes.
Supporting Document: You will also develop a
handout (risk-management plan brief, pre-
authorization brief, or wait-time standard operating
procedure brief) for the board
members that corresponds to the case you have
selected.
Length: The slide presentation will consist of 12-15
slides, not including the first slide as
your title slide and the last slide as your reference slide.
The handout should be an
executive summary of no more than 2 pages that
summarizes the components of the risk
management plan, pre-authorization procedures, or
wait-time SOP.
References: A minimum of 10 credible and
scholarly referencesare required for this

15. Signature Assignment.
Yourpresentation should demonstrate thoughtful
consideration and integration of the
ideasand concepts that have been presented throughout
the course. Additionally, your
presentation should provide new thoughts and insights
relating directly to this topic. Your
response should reflect graduate-level writing and
APA standards.