Expanding Access To Rural Healthcare Services And Benefits Through Secure, Interactive Video Links: A Case Study Of Video Claims Taking Implementation In The Great Plains

Context: Between 2003 and 2008, the University of North Dakota Center for Rural Service Delivery (RSD) increased access to a number of vital government services for citizens in rural communities and Native American reservations through the Video Claims Taking (VCT) program, which allowed claimants in rural healthcare settings to apply for benefits over secure interactive video networks to distant government offices. VCT helped increase healthcare reimbursement, social and related public service benefits to 31 underserved communities in six states and leveraged a significant increase in applications for government services and monetary benefits to these communities. Methods: A case-study examines the implementation, use and impact of the VCT technology over the RSD’s five year operation. Findings: The authors offer five principal findings which center on the relationships between government agencies and rural claimants, some cultural considerations posed by this electronic form of service delivery, the program’s potential to realize certain efficiencies, the technical challenges faced during implementation and overcoming a number of organizational and communications barriers. Conclusions: The foregoing analysis of the RSDs initiative and its VCT program contributes to a better understanding of how to leverage an interactive video platform to provide government healthcare reimbursement services to underrepresented groups in rural contexts for public agencies and private healthcare providers that are interested in adopting a similar model of service delivery to their stakeholders

How Do Business And Government Interact? Combining Perspectives From Economics, Political Science, Public Administration, And Practitioners

The authors describe the theoretical preparation provided to students in advance of a limited-duration experiential learning experience in Washington DC in a Masters level course for students in Business or Public Administration. The students consider theoretical perspectives from economics, political science, and public administration with respect to the interactions of business and government in the US economy. The students field test the theories via meetings with practitioners in Washington DC and are required to reflect on and then apply how reality does (or does not) map into theory

Bridging the bureaucratic divide: Using GPRA and the PMA to enhance the career manager and political appointee relationship

The study of bureaucratic politics explicates a dysfunctional relationship between career executives and Senate-confirmed political appointees in the American administrative state. Additionally, a number of natural barriers exist between these two executive actors that can cause tensions, hamper cooperative management and ultimately affect policy outcomes. The Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA) and the President\u27s Management Agenda (PMA) are two of the latest in a long series of efforts to improve the performance of federal agency management. Although these efforts mandate the use of a number of managerial tools to improve internal agency management, they do little to redress the barriers between political appointees and career managers. This dissertation evaluates just how GPRA and the PMA can help careerists and political appointees overcome these barriers to good management and reduce tensions by evaluating three case study agencies: the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Experiential Learning: Lessons Learned From The UND Business And Government Symposium

The authors describe lessons learned from a limited-duration experiential learning component of a Master’s level course. The course is open to Master’s in Business and Master’s in Public Administration students and explores the relationships between government and business. A complete discussion of the Master’s in Business and Master’s in Public Administration students is presented, with emphasis on advance planning and integration of a limited-duration field trip experience into the academic component of the course