Problem
Imagine that senior executives of the hospital where you are employed are considering a significant expansion of its emergency care center that is smaller than other centers in the metro area. You have been tasked with communicating health care economic principles that must be considered as they explore and make decisions regarding the project.
There are a great many considerations when planning an expansion of this kind, such as building and finance costs, permitting, land acquisition, et cetera. Two critical considerations are the supply of emergency care services and the demand for health care workers. The executives are also interested in the revenue prospect. How will the patients pay? Who pays?
Your task is to create a PowerPoint presentation that summarizes a high-level economic analysis that informs the board's decision-making by informing them about the supply and demand for emergency care services in the community, as well as quality measures. The information should inform the leadership's decision to pursue the next steps in the expansion evaluation, which would involve a more detailed analysis of the factors that you outline. It should not be a full market analysis or evaluation of specific costs, but rather an introduction to the economic considerations.
Preparation
A. Choose a medium-size (one with multiple emergency care providers) metropolitan area and conduct research on:
a. Market structure of the emergency care services offered there.
b. The demand for labor and insurance.
c. The market supply for labor and insurance.
B. Consider the economic principles and tools that you will need to make your analysis and presentation.