Description:

This week, we focus on care delivery and the influence of technology. This week has two major sections. The first section is primary care. This material is a continuation of our previous discussion on providers and the ACA. It's very important that you end the section with an understanding of accountable care organizations, which I'll call ACOs. The ACO is not an insurance company. The ACO is not an HMO. By the end of this week, you should be able to distinguish between HMOs and ACOs.

The second section is on technology, including drugs. Keeping with the theme of technology, there are multiple audio and video elements to supplement the written notes. Think about patient safety. How should technology help? What could be some unintended consequences?

We will end with a brief discussion on health literacy. Whether this is a review or new material may depend on where you are in this program. Health literacy is incredibly important in all aspects of care. We have a long way to go in order to assess and meet the needs of our population in this respect.

Your homework this week is threefold. You will complete your weekly current event posting. There will also be an exam this week. This is a set of close-ended questions. You will be able to access the questions before the exam to prepare your responses. Lastly, you will write up a reflection on patient safety based on specific assigned materials.

Here is a link to the media file cryan_w04.mp4