| Course | HCM 320 Healthcare Economics |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 1 |
| Paper type | BS Healthcare Administration discussion post on scarcity and opportunity cost |
| Length | About 350 words, 3 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Southern New Hampshire University |
| Program | BS Healthcare Administration |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for HCM 320 Module 1
Module One Discussion
Three Good Ideas and Money for One
Our health center just received a one-time $400,000 grant, and the board has three proposals: two more dental chairs, a behavioral health clinician embedded in primary care or evening clinic hours three nights a week. Each would help patients. The grant covers only one. That is scarcity in its simplest form: wants exceed resources, so choosing one option means giving up the others.
Economists call the value of the best option given up the opportunity cost. If the board funds dental chairs, the opportunity cost is the behavioral health or evening access we did not provide. Our dental waiting list is four months, a quarter of our primary care patients screen positive for depression and many working patients miss appointments because we close at five. Framing the decision this way forces the board to compare benefits, not just list them.
Fuchs (2018) argued that U.S. medical care is inefficient in the sense that the country spends far more than other wealthy nations without achieving better population health, largely because of high prices and administrative costs. At a national level, that inefficiency is an enormous opportunity cost: money that could fund housing, education or public health. At our level, the same logic applies to every dollar we spend.
Bodenheimer and Pham (2010) described primary care as stretched by too few clinicians, rushed visits and growing demands, and argued for team-based care and better access. Nocon et al. (2016) found that Medicaid patients who received care at health centers had lower total spending and fewer hospital and specialist visits than similar patients elsewhere. That suggests spending on access at a health center can reduce costs elsewhere in the system, which should count in our comparison.
My own view is that evening hours might offer the biggest benefit per dollar, because missed care leads to emergency visits later. But the point of this exercise is less the answer than the method: name the options, estimate what each achieves and count what is given up. For classmates: how does your organization decide between good options when it can only fund one?
References
Bodenheimer, T., & Pham, H. H. (2010). Primary care: Current problems and proposed solutions. Health Affairs, 29(5), 799-805. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2010.0026
Fuchs, V. R. (2018). Is US medical care inefficient? JAMA, 320(10), 971-972. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2018.10779
Nocon, R. S., Lee, S. M., Sharma, R., Ngo-Metzger, Q., Mukamel, D. B., Gao, Y., White, L. M., Shi, L., Chin, M. H., Laiteerapong, N., & Huang, E. S. (2016). Health care use and spending for Medicaid enrollees in federally qualified health centers versus other primary care settings. American Journal of Public Health, 106(11), 1981-1989. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2016.303341
What the HCM 320 Module 1 instructions ask for
The first HCM 320 discussion usually asks you to explain basic economic concepts, such as scarcity and opportunity cost, and apply them to a healthcare decision. Write a focused first post that leans on a couple of peer-reviewed studies cited in APA 7, then respond to classmates before the deadline. Choose a real or realistic choice between options, define the concepts in your own words and show how they change the way the decision is made. Use evidence where possible to estimate what each option achieves, and end by asking classmates how their organizations handle similar trade-offs. HCM 320 graders notice clean headings in HCM 320 papers. HCM 320 names and dates need checking before HCM 320 submission. HCM 320 prompts vary by term, so recheck HCM 320 directions.
How this HCM 320 Module 1 discussion example is built
In this post, a composite patient financial counselor describes a health center board choosing among dental chairs, integrated behavioral health and evening hours with a $400,000 grant. Opportunity cost is defined as the best option given up, Fuchs's argument about U.S. inefficiency scales the idea nationally, Bodenheimer and Pham describe primary care strain and Nocon and colleagues show health center care lowers Medicaid spending. The writer leans toward evening hours and asks classmates how they choose. HCM 320 students can reuse this structure for HCM 320 work. HCM 320 claims here trace to cited HCM 320 sources. HCM 320 readers can adapt each section to HCM 320 data. The method, not only the answer, is presented as the lesson.
Where the HCM 320 Module 1 rubric puts the points
Opening discussions in HCM 320 are commonly graded on correct definitions of economic concepts, application to a specific healthcare decision, use of evidence, clear reasoning, APA 7 and replies that extend the analysis. Posts that show how thinking about opportunity cost changes a decision, rather than simply defining it, stand out. Credit falls when concepts are defined incorrectly, when examples stay abstract or when replies do not add ideas. HCM 320 marks favor careful formatting across HCM 320 sections. HCM 320 citations keep every HCM 320 argument credible. HCM 320 instructors weigh evidence heavily in HCM 320 grading. Estimating benefits with numbers, even rough ones, is rewarded.
HCM 320 Module 1 help: the mistakes that cost points
First economics posts often define scarcity and opportunity cost from a textbook without applying them, or describe a decision without naming what is given up. Replies that simply agree earn little. Pick one real decision, list the options, name the opportunity cost of each, bring in a study that helps estimate benefits and ask a genuine question. Share your workplace and the HCM 320 prompt so the post fits your setting. HCM 320 drafts start well from a HCM 320 outline. HCM 320 feedback already received guides HCM 320 revisions. HCM 320 rubrics posted in Brightspace clarify HCM 320 expectations. Keep definitions short and spend most words on application.
Get HCM 320 Module 1 written to your instructions
Share the HCM 320 Module 1 prompt and a spending decision from your workplace. The post will define the economic concepts, apply them to your decision with evidence and invite peers to compare trade-offs, within 24 to 48 hours, free the first time. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Southern New Hampshire University document.
More HCM 320 papers and related BS Healthcare Administration samples
- HCM 320 Module 2 Supply and Demand Short Paper: The Primary Care Workforce Shortage Through Supply and Demand
- HCM 320 Module 3 Elasticity Short Paper: How Copayments Change the Number of Visits
- HCM 320 Module 4 Project One: An Economic Look at a Sliding Fee Scale
- HCM 320 Module 5 Externalities Short Paper: Vaccination as a Benefit to Others
- HCM 320 Module 6 Insurance Short Paper: Risk Pooling, the Uninsured and Uncompensated Care
- HCM 320 Module 7 Project Two: Comparing Ways to Contain Health Care Costs
- HCM 320 Module 8 Discussion: A Closing Reflection on Thinking Like an Economist in Health Care
- IHP 430 Module 8 Final Project Performance Improvement Plan
- IHP 420 Module 1 Ethics and Law Discussion
- IHP 340 Module 3 Correlation Short Paper
- HCM 345 Module 6 Denial Appeal Letter
HCM 320 Module 1 questions, answered
Where can I find a free HCM 320 Module 1 Discussion sample?
The full HCM 320 Module 1 post is on this page, applying scarcity and opportunity cost to a health center's $400,000 spending choice.
What is opportunity cost?
The value of the best alternative given up when a choice is made.
Why is scarcity central to health economics?
Health care needs and wants exceed available money, staff and time, so every choice involves trade-offs.
Do community health centers save money?
One study found Medicaid patients at health centers had lower total spending than similar patients in other primary care settings.
What does it mean that U.S. health care is inefficient?
The country spends more than peers without better population health, largely because of prices and administrative costs.