IHP 450 Module 2 Staffing and Skill Mix Discussion example

Reviewed by Delia Ravenscroft, MSN, RN Healthcare Management and Finance Southern New Hampshire University Full sample paper Free custom sample in 24 to 48h

This complete IHP 450 Module 2 discussion post treats staffing as a planning decision with a price on it. A composite community health center has budget for one new position in adult medicine and two candidates: a fourth medical assistant or a half-time clinical pharmacist. The post compares what each would cost, what work each could take from physicians, and what the evidence on team-based delegation suggests, then makes a choice and invites challenge. The health center is composite; the research is real.

What this page holds

Written out in full: an IHP 450 Module 2 discussion post of about 340 words comparing two ways to spend one staffing line, a medical assistant or a clinical pharmacist, on cost, delegated work and panel capacity, and recommending one. Searches like "ihp 450 module 2 assignment", "ihp450 module 2 staffing and skill mix discussion" and "ihp 450 module 2 example" land here.

The IHP 450 Module 2 example, in full

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Module Two Discussion: Planning, Staffing and Skill Mix

Re: One staffing line, two ways to spend it

Our composite health center's adult medicine department has approval for one new position next year, and the team is split. The physicians want a fourth medical assistant; the chief medical officer favors a half-time clinical pharmacist. Both cost about the same once benefits and payroll taxes are loaded onto base pay, which is the only fair way to compare positions (Reiter & Song, 2021). A full-time medical assistant at our loaded rate of 24 dollars an hour costs roughly 50,000 dollars a year, and half of a pharmacist at a loaded 110,000 dollars costs about 55,000 dollars.

The better question is what each would take off the physicians. A fourth assistant would speed rooming, close care gaps such as overdue screenings through standing orders and handle refill paperwork. A pharmacist could manage diabetes, hypertension and anticoagulation under a collaborative practice agreement, adjusting doses between physician visits. Modeling by Altschuler et al. (2012) estimated that a primary care team could care for about 1,387 patients per physician when modest shares of preventive and chronic care were delegated, and about 1,947 when delegation was extensive, because most of a physician's time goes to chronic disease management. That points toward the pharmacist, since chronic care is where our physicians fall behind: 31 percent of our patients with diabetes have an A1c above 9 percent.

I would choose the pharmacist, with one condition. Delegation only saves physician time if the work actually moves, which requires protocols, scheduled pharmacist visits and physicians who trust the arrangement (Ghorob & Bodenheimer, 2015). A new role that the team does not use is the most expensive line in the budget, because it adds cost without changing anything. If our physicians will not refer, the assistant is the safer investment.

I would put one thing to the group. If you had to prove to the finance committee a year later that you made the right hire, which measure would you report first: physician panel size, A1c control or visit wait times?

What this page is doingThe post prices both options, ties the decision to published evidence on delegation and panel size, and names the condition that would reverse the choice. That combination of cost, evidence and judgment is what a management discussion is graded on.
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References

Altschuler, J., Margolius, D., Bodenheimer, T., & Grumbach, K. (2012). Estimating a reasonable patient panel size for primary care physicians with team-based task delegation. Annals of Family Medicine, 10(5), 396-400. https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.1400

Ghorob, A., & Bodenheimer, T. (2015). Building teams in primary care: A practical guide. Families, Systems, & Health, 33(3), 182-192. https://doi.org/10.1037/fsh0000120

Reiter, K. L., & Song, P. H. (2021). Gapenski's healthcare finance: An introduction to accounting and financial management (7th ed.). Health Administration Press.

How this IHP 450 Module 2 example is structured

The post frames the decision, prices both options with loaded salary figures, then asks what each role would actually take off the physicians' schedules. Published modeling on task delegation supplies the link between skill mix and panel size. The writer chooses one option, names the condition under which the other would win, and poses a question about how to measure whether the choice was right.

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Send your IHP 450 Module 2 discussion prompt and rubric. A post on planning, staffing or skill mix written to your prompt comes back within 24 to 48 hours, and your first is free. 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.

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IHP 450 Module 2 questions, answered

What does IHP 450 Module 2 usually cover?

Early in a healthcare management and finance course, topics often include planning, organizing and staffing: how managers forecast workload, choose staffing models and skill mix, and connect staffing decisions to cost. Discussions may ask students to evaluate a staffing decision in their own organization.

What does skill mix mean in healthcare staffing?

Skill mix is the combination of roles and credentials on a team, such as physicians, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, medical assistants and pharmacists. Changing the mix changes both cost and which tasks can be delegated, so managers weigh what each role is licensed and trained to do against its salary.

What is a fully loaded salary?

A fully loaded salary adds the cost of benefits, payroll taxes and other employment costs to base pay. Managers use it to compare staffing options because base pay alone understates what a position costs the organization, often by 20 to 30 percent.