The Effects of the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program on Non-Targeted Interventions

According to the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, the rate of hospital readmissions for Medicare patients fell from 18.3 percent in 2010 to 17.1 percent in 2016. Still, since avoidable readmission within 30 days of discharge is a negative healthcare outcome and costly, whether the readmission is due to low-quality care or random complication, it captures the attention of healthcare cost-conscious policymakers. The Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP), implemented in 2012, aims to decrease readmission following selected procedures. This research analyzes the effect of the HRRP on readmission rates that were not a part of the HRRP’s intended scope, referred to as non-targeted readmission rates. If hospital administrators are sensitive to payment changes, they have an incentive to reduce the probability of avoidable readmissions, potentially shifting resources, adopting new practices, and utilizing new technologies to improve health outcomes for targeted treatments. Moreover, if hospitals learn from their new practices or can make use of the improved technology in treating non-targeted conditions, the direct and intended effects of HRRP may spillover to readmission reductions for non-targeted procedures. Readmission spillover effects, if they exist, would provide suggestive evidence that HRRP can have an even broader benefit by shifting hospitals toward so-called “value-based care” thinking. With data from CMS Hospital Compare data archive and the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program surgical patient readmission data, this research models both targeted and non-targeted intervention readmission rates before and after the HRRP for hospitals bound by the HRRP and those that are not. Since hospitals that already exhibit lower than national average readmission rates in the targeted procedures face no incentives from HRRP, they provide a plausible control group for HRRP-treated hospitals and an opportunity for causal inference through a Difference in Differences approach

Egyptian Mummy CT Scan Analysis and a Comparison of Midwest Museum Practices for the Grand Rapids Public Museum

To meet the partial requirements for a Master of Arts degree in Anthropology from Western Michigan University, the following internship was completed between June 2015 and September 2016. A Computed Tomography (CT) scan analysis was conducted on the Grand Rapids Public Museum’s mummy, Nakhte-Bastet-Iru. This analysis was a collaborative effort by myself and medical and museum professionals. Insight into the mummy’s life and culture was uncovered through examination and analysis of paleoradiological views of her remains. Additional research into the practices of other Midwest museums provided valuable knowledge of current trends in the dissemination and exhibition of mummy CT scan data. This internship and research has highlighted the challenges of a mummy CT scan analysis as well as the benefits it can bring to a museum and the field of anthropology. The relationship between these institutions and discipline, which has deep historical roots, continues to provide opportunities to educate the public and further Egyptian mummy research through collaborative CT scanning projects

Orientation Impossibilities: 780 students in One Day!

Libraries often take challenges as they are presented and make them a success. Such was the case at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities in August 2011. The challenge was to quickly develop a 20-minute session for incoming First-Year students. The session had to compete for attendance, based on title, be delivered in a classroom (not the Libraries), include audio, video and engage students. Oh, and it needed to be repeated eleven times in one day. The solution involved the Cephalonian Method with humorous media from across popular culture and Libraryland. We focused on unique elements from our collections to capture students imagination. When it was all done, we had engaged over 780 students that students were recommending to their peers. In this session, learn about developing a compelling multimedia presentation to use on your campus for Orientation and more. To access full presentation for this session, click on the Download button to the right. Additional resources also available below

The Impact of Recording Artists and Music on Legal and Social Change

Whether you are in your car, on a run, or in a store, music surrounds us. Music is a part of everyday life. We form opinions, talk about, and connect with music on personal levels. Furthermore, music can influence not only personal decisions but also broader social goals and ideas. This manuscript focuses on how recording artists use their music and their celebrity status to influence social and humanitarian goals, including those leading to legal regulations and changes in the business world. Nearly everyone can name a current or past artist associated with a social movement. We explore this topic by first discussing the influence of music on society. From a psychological perspective, music seems to have significant social effects due to its ability to shape emotions. We also discuss the ways artists express political ideas and how these ideas tie in with particular artists’ careers along with the role musicians have played in inspiring social movements and legal change. We ultimately conclude that artists are in an excellent position to effectuate social change and inspire others to take meaningful steps toward solving complex humanitarian issues.https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/150679/4/1393_Schipani.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/150679/1/1393_Schipani.pdfDescription of 1393_Schipani.pdf : updated author affiliationDescription of 1393_Schipani.pdf : do not us

The Impact of Recording Artists and Music on Legal and Social Change

Whether you are in your car, on a run, or in a store, music surrounds us. Music is a part of everyday life. We form opinions, talk about, and connect with music on personal levels. Furthermore, music can influence not only personal decisions but also broader social goals and ideas. This manuscript focuses on how recording artists use their music and their celebrity status to influence social and humanitarian goals, including those leading to legal regulations and changes in the business world. Nearly everyone can name a current or past artist associated with a social movement. We explore this topic by first discussing the influence of music on society. From a psychological perspective, music seems to have significant social effects due to its ability to shape emotions. We also discuss the ways artists express political ideas and how these ideas tie in with particular artists’ careers along with the role musicians have played in inspiring social movements and legal change. We ultimately conclude that artists are in an excellent position to effectuate social change and inspire others to take meaningful steps toward solving complex humanitarian issues.https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/150679/4/1393_Schipani.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/150679/1/1393_Schipani.pdfDescription of 1393_Schipani.pdf : updated author affiliationDescription of 1393_Schipani.pdf : do not us

Irrigation externalities: pricing and charges

Irrigation externalities: pricing and charges by Gavan Dwyer, Robert Douglas, Deb Peterson, Jo Chong and Kate Maddern was released on 14 March 2006. The paper discusses the nature and causes of environmental change related to rural water use, and provides a taxonomy of the many diverse types. It also examines the issues surrounding possible charges on water use for water related externalities. There have been few attempts by water utilities to incorporate externalities into full cost pricing of irrigation water. The aim of this Staff Working Paper was to: examine the extent to which charges imposed by irrigation water utilities could address externalities from irrigation water supply and use; and to develop a framework to identify and characterise changes in environmental conditions from the supply and use of irrigation water that may lead to environmental externalities. The authors found that many factors influence the extent to which charging for water would change water use. These include the volume of water available to irrigators, the extent to which trade can occur, the size of the charge or tax, the price responsiveness for irrigation water and the existing mechanisms to address externalities. A tax on water use may increase economic efficiency where external costs are related only to the level of water use. However, such a tax is an unsuitable instrument if the Government's policy objective is to reduce environmental damage to a predetermined level or to raise a target level of revenue to address the externalities. The views expressed in this paper are those of the staff involved and do not necessarily reflect those of the Productivity Commission.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

The Journal of the Center for Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning

IMPACT: The Journal of the Center for Interdisciplinary Teaching & Learning is a peer-reviewed, biannual online journal that publishes scholarly and creative non-fiction essays about the theory, practice and assessment of interdisciplinary education. Impact is produced by the Center for Interdisciplinary Teaching & Learning at the College of General Studies, Boston University (www.bu.edu/cgs/citl).In this issue, podcasts are looked at as a pedagogical game changer. Using the award-wining podcast Serial as their catalyst, this issue's essayists look at podcast's emerging role in higher education, how multimodal learning can help students find their voices, the podcast's place in the curriculum at a criminal justice college, and how podcasts can inspire students to reflectively assess their own writing. Our reviewers take a critical look at the podcasts Welcome to Night Vale and Revisionist History

Uncovering Elementary Teachers\u27 Notions of Engineering Design Practices using Video-Captured Instruction

This article describes a 3-credit STEM education graduate course that provided knowledge and experiences to elementary school teachers for incorporating engineering design process (EDP) into their instruction. We analyzed teacher\u27s written reflections that gave us insights to the successes and challenges in helping teachers develop their notions and implementation of the EDP

Improving Library Instruction By Design

Librarians are often teachers and instructors. Librarians are creating more and more online tutorials and instructional content. These aren‟t new roles for librarians but historically (and currently) training in library school is often lacking in these areas. Some libraries are hiring experts to support the expanded teaching and learning mission of libraries--enter the Instructional Designer. Instructional Design helps librarians clarify the objectives and create a process for developing instruction and develop methods to assess learning. Instructional design can help libraries move their online and face-to-face instruction to the next level. Learn about the University of Minnesota Libraries experience in hiring an instructional designer, see examples the designer has worked on, and discover the challenges of helping librarians begin to trust/understand the instructional design process. In this session, you will also learn what an instructional designer can do for your library, what types of projects could benefit from instructional design and how you can begin designing better instruction today. ABOUT THE PRESENTERS: Kate Peterson is Information Literacy Librarian at the University of Minnesota Libraries - Twin Cities; Paul Zenke is an Instructional Designer at the University of Minnesota Libraries - Twin Cities.

Black Hats, Farms, and Bubbles: How Emerging Marketing and Content Production Models are Making Research More Difficult (And What You And Your Students Can Do About It)

Google, and other search engines, have made tremendous progress organizing the world’s knowledge. However, accessing that knowledge is becoming increasingly difficult because of emerging marketing and content production models utilized by high-ranking sites like eHow.com and ExpertVillage.com. Search Engine Optimization (SEO), content farms and Google\u27s increasingly personalized search algorithms are making search engines less effective as academic research tools. For example, “black hat” Search Engine Optimization (SEO), a dubious set of techniques that intentionally deceive users and search engines to overvalue some site’s relevance and content, have become common practice on the Web. “Content farms,” that pay freelance writers to churn out low-quality content based on search engine keywords have begun outnumbering more reputable sources in search results. Research suggests that these emerging information challenges are creating problems for college students. Studies have shown that students only explore the first few search engines results regardless of quality. Project Information Literacy research concluded that students are reluctant to try new search strategies. Therefore students are exposed to more shallow, low quality results than ever before. In this session, learn more about the technologies behind these emerging marketing and content production models. Learn strategies faculty, students, and librarians can use to respond to new information environment.To access the full presentation for this session, click on the \u27Download\u27 button to the right