Speak first person
In response to your peers, offer any advice and feedback to address your peers' progress and concerns.
Lisa Discussion:
Enhancing Adolescent Mental Health Services at The Saint Christopher Children's Hospital (SCCH)
The plan detailed in the proposal is to create a 12–15 bed inpatient psychiatric unit within The Saint Christopher Children's Hospital (SCCH) to fill an otherwise desperate void for specialized adolescent mental healthcare (SAMH) within Philadelphia. Some of the key aims of the program are to reduce emergency department boarding time by 30%, to deliver enhanced clinical outcomes based on multidisciplinary care delivery, and to align with SCCH's 2025 Community Health Needs Assessment. Ethically and legally, the plan offers equitable access to marginalized groups, is HIPAA and state regulations compliant, and requires specialized staff training, including but not limited to crisis intervention and de-escalation techniques, for high-risk cases (Elendu et al., 2024).
The program, with an entry investment of $3–$5 million and an annual operating cost of approximately $1.5–$2 million, holds the promise of significant positive impact. While it may not be profitable at first, the projections indicate that within three years, it will be a net positive due to reimbursement from insurance and the reduction in ED boarding expenses. The hospital resources, grants, and philanthropic partnerships will be used to generate funding (Elendu et al., 2024). The proposed timeline would be 12 months and will start with a feasibility study and approval from the stakeholders, then funding acquisition, staff hiring, pilot launch, and then full implementation in Year 2.
Concerns about delays in funding or regulatory approval and staff burnout due to the nature of psychiatric care, which requires high demand, are key. Mitigation approaches involve actively engaging stakeholders, who are integral to the success of this initiative, maintaining competitive staffing ratios, and having strong support systems (Bhatia et al., 2024). This is a critical step towards bridging the adolescent mental health care gap at SCCH and supporting the hospital's continued commitment to equitable, high-quality service delivery. Feedback on financial modeling and stakeholder engagement strategies would be valuable as the proposal progresses.
References
Elendu, C., Omeludike, E. K., Oloyede, P. O., Obidigbo, B. T., & Omeludike, J. C. (2024). Legal implications for clinicians in cybersecurity incidents: A review. Medicine, 103(39), e39887. https://journals.lww.com/md-journal/fulltext/2024/09270/legal_implications_for_clinicians_in_cybersecurity.51.aspx
Bhatia, M., Meenakshi, N., Kaur, P., & Dhir, A. (2024). Digital technologies and carbon neutrality goals: An in-depth investigation of drivers, barriers, and risk mitigation strategies. Journal of Cleaner Production, 451, 141946. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652624013945
Lee Discussion:
My proposal topic is why the laboratory should go with Beckman Coulter analyzers and what goes into an instrument decision. A brief overview of my program plan is to implement two AU5811 analyzers in the main laboratory, which will enhance operational efficiency, improve accuracy, and reduce overall costs. Some objectives will be to demonstrate the best performance metrics of the AU 5811s compared to other analyzers. Also, to ensure a smooth transition to the new analyzers, Beckman Coulter software, and systems. Lastly, to achieve a measurable improvement in the diagnostics capability of the analyzers in speed and accuracy for good patient care (Harmening, 2020).
Some of the ethical factors that would need to be included are that patient safety is top priority, along with accurate results being reported. Avoiding ethical conflicts of interest if there are any family members that might work for Beckman that could have influence over the decision (Issel et al., 2022). Some legal requirements are essential as well, such as the lab and analyzer complying with all regulatory compliance agencies such as CLIA. Some tests might not be FDA-approved yet.
There are many financial costs to consider, such as upfront costs and long-term savings from the analyzers. The upfront costs will be the time to train staff before go-live and then all the necessary items needed to start testing the system before the go-live, such as extra reagents and consumables. There will be reduced costs with labor when the analyzer is used in conjunction with an automation system (Beckman Coulter, 2025). Some more savings will be from the more efficient usage of supplies and a decreased amount of patient runs when it's on automation, because there will be less human error. A potential timeline will be about 14 weeks from the time the choice is made and signed off on. During the first month, the proposal and drafts are made and then approved by the CEO and the board of trustees. Installation usually begins about the sixth week, and the validations and correlations will begin shortly after. Then, about the twelfth week, there is usually a soft go-live to ensure the system operates as intended.
An issue will be trying to determine the timeline of each step, because there could be several issues, such as bad parts, a delay in payments, or maybe a remodel could be needed, which could extend the timeframe significantly.
References
Beckman Coulter. (2025). AU5800 Series Clinical Chemistry Analyzers. Retrieved from Beckman Coulter Diagnostics: https://www.beckmancoulter.com/en/products/chemistry/au5800#/model-comparison
Harmening, D. (2020). Laboratory Management Principles. St. Petersburg: D.H. Publishing and Consulting.
Issel, M., Wells, R., & Williams, M. (2022). Health Program Planning and Evaluation. Burlington: Jones and Bartlett Learning.