Matching Items (13)
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- All Subjects: Healthcare
- Creators: Harrington Bioengineering Program
Description
In the US, underrepresented racial and ethnic minorities receive less than adequate health care in comparison to White Americans. This is attributed to multiple factors, including the long history of structural racism in the US and in the medical field in particular. A factor that is still prevalent today is the lack of diversity within the healthcare workforce. Racial and ethnic minorities are underrepresented in most healthcare occupations. Moreover, many physicians may continue to harbor implicit biases that may interfere with giving adequate care to patients of different backgrounds. We propose that diversity in healthcare should be increased through educational programs and a revamp of existing systems such as medical schools. The increased diversity would mitigate some of the health disparities that exist amongst minorities, as medical professionals are more likely to give adequate care to those who are members of the same community. Increased diversity would also help to increase the cultural competency of physicians as a whole.
ContributorsLopez, Adriana (Author) / Webb, Linden (Co-author) / Martin, Thomas (Thesis director) / Feagan, Mathieu (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor)
Created2022-05
Description
The purpose of this thesis has been to examine how culture affects healthcare experiences and outcomes for women. This analysis started by gaining a historical perspective of the influences of medical research policies and recent social movements in the U.S. which have affected women's healthcare. A lack of fundamental gender and sex-specific research has contributed to disparities in women's healthcare outcomes today. When seeking medical care today, women may be affected broadly by cultural factors such as gender bias or stigmatization. A woman seeking healthcare in a medical system with a culture different from her own may experience unique cultural barriers, or she may have personal beliefs which interfere with or contradict the healthcare she receives. Our approach has been to analyze both subjective healthcare experiences and objective healthcare outcomes, in order to make recommendations for improving cross-cultural experiences in women's healthcare.
ContributorsWilkinson, Katie (Author) / Headley, Kayla (Co-author) / Martin, Thomas (Thesis director) / Ivey, Philip (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor)
Created2022-05
Description
This thesis project explores the US healthcare landscape to describe and explain some of the defining trends and models in use today, and discusses how they might be improved. Specifically, it focuses on the areas of healthcare delivery and payment and aims to answer the question: “What does healthcare delivery and payment currently look like in the United States, and why isn’t it working?”
ContributorsBillingsley, Grace (Author) / Cortese, Denis (Thesis director) / Smoldt, Robert (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
This thesis project was inspired by healthcare disparities between rural and urban communities. This topic was operationalized in this paper through a comparison of dental care access in rural and urban areas of both Panama and Arizona. The significance and origin of the research were first introduced, followed by a literature review to establish baseline care access information in each of the locations. The methods of the research conducted include on-site observational data collection as well as patient interviews and conversations summarized by thematic analysis. Data showed different primary barriers to care in each location with an emphasis on geographic and policy variables. The results were discussed in terms of the factors identified as contributing to the disparities in access between the rural and urban communities in each location, and further, through a comparison of these disparities and their root causes, between Panama and Arizona. Recommendations were detailed for steps to continue this study and expand its scope, as well as suggested measures to minimize the access disparities faced by rural communities.
ContributorsMartinez, Jacob (Author) / Kizer, Elizabeth (Thesis director) / Maupin, Jonathan (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
This paper investigates different factors influencing access to healthcare insurance in the
US. It discusses the role of insurance companies, regulations, competition, and federal policy
impacts. Drawing on research from journal articles, as well as comparisons to examples of
European healthcare, the study emphasizes differences in structure as well as financing.
Economic concepts like adverse selection and moral hazard are explained to describe challenges within the insurance market, along with strategies to mitigate them. By the end, the synthesis section proposes recommendations for improving the U.S. healthcare system, including enhancing affordability, strengthening insurance regulation, promoting preventive care, and expanding Medicaid coverage. Through this analysis, the paper discusses opportunities for
healthcare reform.
ContributorsHurmez, Sarah (Author) / Kostol, Andreas (Thesis director) / Wong, Kelvin (Committee member) / Kuminoff, Nicolai (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
Many would contend that the United States healthcare system should be moving towards a state of health equity. Here, every individual is not disadvantaged from achieving their true health potential. However, a variety of barriers currently exist that restrict individuals across the country from attaining equitable health outcomes; one of these is the social determinants of health (SDOH). The SDOH are non-medical factors that influence the health outcomes of an individual such as air pollution, food insecurity, and transportation accessibility. Each of these factors can influence the critical illnesses and health outcomes of individuals and, in turn, diminish the level of health equity in affected areas. Further, the SDOH have a strong correlation with lower levels of health outcomes such as life expectancy, physical health, and mental health. Despite having influenced the United States health care system for decades, the industry has only begun to address its influences within the past few years. Through exploration between the associations of the SDOH and health outcomes, programming and policy-making can begin to address the barrier to health equity that the SDOH create.
ContributorsWaldman, Lainey (Author) / Zhou, Hongjuan (Thesis director) / Zicarelli, John (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor)
Created2023-05
Description
In the medical industry, there have been promising advances in the increase of new types of healthcare to the public. As of 2015, there was a 98% Premarket Approval rate, a 38% increase since 2010. In addition, there were 41 new novel drugs approved for clinical usage in 2014 where the average in the previous years from 2005-2013 was 25. However, the research process towards creating and delivering new healthcare to the public remains remarkably inefficient. It takes on average 15 years, over $900 million by one estimate, for a less than 12% success rate of discovering a novel drug for clinical usage. Medical devices do not fare much better. Between 2005-2009, there were over 700 recalls per year. In addition, it takes at minimum 3.25 years for a 510(k) exempt premarket approval. Plus, a time lag exists where it takes 17 years for only 14% of medical discoveries to be implemented clinically. Coupled with these inefficiencies, government funding for medical research has been decreasing since 2002 (2.5% of Gross Domestic Product) and is predicted to be 1.5% of Gross Domestic Product by 2019. Translational research, the conversion of bench-side discoveries to clinical usage for a simplistic definition, has been on the rise since the 1990s. This may be driving the increased premarket approvals and new novel drug approvals. At the very least, it is worth considering as translational research is directly related towards healthcare practices. In this paper, I propose to improve the outcomes of translational research in order to better deliver advancing healthcare to the public. I suggest Best Value Performance Information Procurement System (BV PIPS) should be adapted in the selection process of translational research projects to fund. BV PIPS has been shown to increase the efficiency and success rate of delivering projects and services. There has been over 17 years of research with $6.3 billion of projects and services delivered showing that BV PIPS has a 98% customer satisfaction, 90% minimized management effort, and utilizes 50% less manpower and effort. Using University of Michigan \u2014 Coulter Foundation Program's funding process as a baseline and standard in the current selection of translational research projects to fund, I offer changes to this process based on BV PIPS that may ameliorate it. As concepts implemented in this process are congruent with literature on successful translational research, it may suggest that this new model for selecting translational research projects to fund will reduce costs, increase efficiency, and increase success. This may then lead to more Premarket Approvals, more new novel drug approvals, quicker delivery time to the market, and lower recalls.
ContributorsDel Rosario, Joseph Paul (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Exploration of the history of the managed care industry and the key drivers of profitability using Cigna as a case study. Four key current issues facing the industry are explained and contemplated in different DCF scenario analyses using both fundamental projections as well as modifications to the CAPM formula. Lastly, the recent price action of Cigna is compared to forecasted predictions and explained using the discounted cash flow model.
ContributorsFallin, John Michael (Author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Sacks, Jana (Committee member) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-12
Description
REACT is a student-led venture which strives to address the healthcare disparities from geographic, linguistic and cultural isolation of the refugee community in Arizona/Phoenix. We will achieve this by Understanding the needs of the community, Engaging the community directly, Educating through the use of culturally appropriate materials, and providing access to supplemental Patient Care.
This venture is unique in that it is an interdisciplinary fusion between students, health professionals, and non-profit organizations empowering underserved refugees. A refugee is an individual forced to leave their country because of persecution, war, or violence. Once they arrive in the United States, they are forced to restart their lives, often with little to no financial assets, minimal English literacy, and a lack of transferable skills from their previous occupations in their home countries. In addition to these socioeconomic disparities, it is common for refugees to face health disparities. Consequently, refugees are one of the most vulnerable populations in our society.
Our organization provides value to the refugee community through our three key services. These are made up of supplemental resources, educational workshops, and clinical services. Our supplemental materials include resources that our clients will use after they have left our care to further improve their health and quality of life. These items include personal hygiene kits, informational pamphlets, and nutritional foods.
The educational workshops we provide specifically address identified knowledge gaps that impede the autonomy of our clients’ health and wellbeing. Several of the topics that we cover (but are not limited to) are diabetes, postpartum depression, nutrition, dental hygiene, AHCCCS, and nutrition. The clinical services that the clinic will provide will be supplementary primary care services that will encompass basic physical exams, A1C blood pressure checks, and vaccinations. These services all are aimed at alleviating the barriers to health that refugees face and ultimately improve their quality of life.
Our venture seeks to maintain positive and sustained relationships with our client segments through continuous community engagement. In conjunction with providing educational workshops and clinical care in the future, REACT continually engages the community by planning formal and informal programming with the refugees based on the needs and wishes of individual communities.
REACT generates these services through the work of medical students from Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine and undergraduates from Arizona State University. Our team brings together the experience from hundreds of hours of work in the community, collaborations with refugee community leaders, and the insight of professionals in the healthcare/social-work industry.
Further, our members have had extensive experience working with refugees, training in culturally sensitive practices, and delivering care to those that need it most. With the cost of healthcare exponentially rising, there is little hope for refugees to find adequate culturally competent healthcare. This leads to an increase in chronic diseases, preventable health issues, and increased hospitalization costs. Supporting REACT is not only an investment in the health of the refugees but the health of our entire healthcare system.
This venture is unique in that it is an interdisciplinary fusion between students, health professionals, and non-profit organizations empowering underserved refugees. A refugee is an individual forced to leave their country because of persecution, war, or violence. Once they arrive in the United States, they are forced to restart their lives, often with little to no financial assets, minimal English literacy, and a lack of transferable skills from their previous occupations in their home countries. In addition to these socioeconomic disparities, it is common for refugees to face health disparities. Consequently, refugees are one of the most vulnerable populations in our society.
Our organization provides value to the refugee community through our three key services. These are made up of supplemental resources, educational workshops, and clinical services. Our supplemental materials include resources that our clients will use after they have left our care to further improve their health and quality of life. These items include personal hygiene kits, informational pamphlets, and nutritional foods.
The educational workshops we provide specifically address identified knowledge gaps that impede the autonomy of our clients’ health and wellbeing. Several of the topics that we cover (but are not limited to) are diabetes, postpartum depression, nutrition, dental hygiene, AHCCCS, and nutrition. The clinical services that the clinic will provide will be supplementary primary care services that will encompass basic physical exams, A1C blood pressure checks, and vaccinations. These services all are aimed at alleviating the barriers to health that refugees face and ultimately improve their quality of life.
Our venture seeks to maintain positive and sustained relationships with our client segments through continuous community engagement. In conjunction with providing educational workshops and clinical care in the future, REACT continually engages the community by planning formal and informal programming with the refugees based on the needs and wishes of individual communities.
REACT generates these services through the work of medical students from Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine and undergraduates from Arizona State University. Our team brings together the experience from hundreds of hours of work in the community, collaborations with refugee community leaders, and the insight of professionals in the healthcare/social-work industry.
Further, our members have had extensive experience working with refugees, training in culturally sensitive practices, and delivering care to those that need it most. With the cost of healthcare exponentially rising, there is little hope for refugees to find adequate culturally competent healthcare. This leads to an increase in chronic diseases, preventable health issues, and increased hospitalization costs. Supporting REACT is not only an investment in the health of the refugees but the health of our entire healthcare system.
ContributorsMarostica, Chance William (Author) / Ferry, Lara (Thesis director) / Smith, Diana (Committee member) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Many developing countries do not have health care systems that can afford technological biomedical devices or supplies to make such devices operational. To fill this void, nonprofit organizations, like Project C.U.R.E., recondition retired biomedical instrumentation so they can send medical supplies to help these developing countries. One of the issues with this is that sometimes the devices are unusable because components or expendable supplies are not available (Bhadelia). This issue has also been shown in the Impact Evaluations that Project C.U.R.E. receives from the clinics that explain the reasons why certain devices are no longer in use. That need underlies the idea on which this honors thesis has come into being. The purpose of this honors project was to create packing lists for biomedical instruments that Project C.U.R.E. recycles. This packing list would decrease the likelihood of important items being forgotten when sending devices. If an extra fuse, battery, light bulb, cuff or transducer is the difference between a functional or a nonfunctional medical device, such a list would be of benefit to Project C.U.R.E and these developing countries. In order to make this packing list, manuals for each device were used to determine what supplies were required, what was necessary for cleaning, and what supplies were desirable but functionally optional. This list was then added into a database that could be easily navigated and could help when packing up boxes for a shipment. The database also makes adding and editing the packing list simple and easy so that as Project C.U.R.E. gets more donated devices the packing list can grow.
ContributorsGraft, Kelsey Anne (Author) / Coursen, Jerry (Thesis director) / Walters, Danielle (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05