A review of current literature

Policy analysis begins with a review of current literature. Health care leaders must understand how and why laws are created. The best way to explore the historical significance and underpinnings of current legislation is to read the literature. Health policy making and legislation are dynamic processes influenced by multiple factors. A thorough review of the literature helps a policy analyst determine whether specific legislation is having the intended impact and if it has produced unintended consequences. In addition, a literature review enables informed recommendations for policy changes and advocacy.

This assignment provides an opportunity for you to complete an in-depth literature review related to the health care legislation you chose to investigate in this course.

By successfully completing this assignment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assignment criteria:

• Competency 2: Evaluate significant federal and state legislation that affects the scope of, access to, availability of, and reimbursement for health care services.
  • Summarize findings from the literature on the effects of legislation on the scope, access to, availability of, and reimbursement for health care services.
  • Analyze the effects of at least one piece of legislation on health care access, cost, and/or quality.
• Competency 3: Analyze the effects of values and assumptions inherent in the changing priorities in health planning and resource allocation.
  • Articulate underlying assumptions, values, and biases in the literature.
• Competency 5: Recommend possible initiatives available to address current gaps in health care policy.
  • Identify current gaps in health care policy.
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of specific legislation in closing current gaps in health care policy.
• Competency 6: Communicate effectively, in an appropriate form and style, consistent with applicable organizational, professional, and scholarly standards.
  • Write clearly and concisely in a logically coherent and appropriate form and style.

Scenario

The health care think tank board of directors was intrigued by the introduction to your proposed research and has approved your choice of legislation as the focus of your investigation. Consequently, you have been given approval to proceed with the research. Your next step will be to conduct a review of the literature to determine the impact that your legislation has had on the industry and on various stakeholders, including patients.

Instructions

Conduct a review of current literature related to the research question you developed in your Unit 3 assignment. Chapter 14 of the Teitelbaum and Wilensky (2019) text provides a robust discussion on structuring a policy analysis. Tips in this chapter may help you with this section of your work.

• Include at least 12 articles, with a focus on how your chosen legislation has affected health care facilities, health plans, communities, and various stakeholders, including patients. Seek literature that will help you answer your research question.
• Be sure that your review of the literature captures the diversity of views. Most policies are steeped in controversy, and few will agree on the benefits of a particular policy. The more recent the policy, the more likely you are to find diverse opinions.
• Summarize your findings from the literature. Consider organizing your literature review using subheadings to discern conflicting findings and viewpoints.

Document Format and Length

Organize your literature review as follows:

• Introduction and the topic legislation.
• Brief description of the search strategy you used to secure the needed articles.
• Historical overview or context for the legislation.
• Current context for the legislation.
• Intended outcomes and possible unintended consequences.
• Specific theme of how the legislation affected the specific element of health care (the “Y” part of your research question).
• Possible gaps in the legislation.
• Summary.

Your literature review should be 6–8 pages of content plus title and references pages.

Evaluation

The following requirements correspond to the grading criteria in the assignment scoring guide, so be sure to address each point. Read the performance-level descriptions for each criterion to see how your work will be assessed.

• Summarize findings from the literature on the effects of legislation on the scope, access to, availability of, and reimbursement for health care services.
  • What is known, unknown, or uncertain in your findings?
  •  What disagreements or controversies did you uncover in your review?
  •  Is further research required?
• Analyze the effects of at least one piece of legislation on health care access, cost, and/or quality.
  •  Is the legislation clear in its application and scope?
  • What factors determine its impact on health care access, cost, and/or quality?
• Articulate underlying assumptions, values, and biases in the literature.
  • How do these factors influence the authors’ arguments and conclusions?
  • How might your perspective or position influence your analysis?
• Analyze current gaps in health care policy.
  • What evidence do you have to support your findings?
• Evaluate the effectiveness of the legislation you have chosen to investigate in closing current gaps in health care policy.
  • On which criteria do you base your assessment?
  • What evidence do you have to support your conclusions?
• Write clearly and concisely in a logically coherent and appropriate form and style.
  • Write with a specific purpose and audience in mind.
  • Adhere to scholarly and disciplinary writing standards and APA formatting requirements for your sources.