| Course | HA515 Leadership and Management in Health Care |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 5 |
| Paper type | Strategic direction paper |
| Length | About 850 words, 6 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | Master of Health Administration (MHA) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HA515 Unit 5
Promise Forty-Eight Hours Where It Is Hardest: A Strategic Direction Paper for a Composite Home Health Agency Whose Referrals From Its Own Hospitals Have Fallen for Six Quarters, Built on Rumelt's Kernel and an Emergent Strategy Already Under Way
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
HA515: Leadership and Management in Health Care
Unit 5 Strategic Direction Paper
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The agency, its counties and every figure are composite and bracketed; the paper is a course model of strategy, not advice to any real agency.
The Situation
The agency serves four counties around the system's two hospitals. Over six quarters, the share of the system's home health discharges referred to the agency fell from [74] to [58] percent. The agency's leaders had proposed a goal of returning to [75] percent within a year, with a marketing campaign aimed at discharge planners.
Why Not a Referral Target
Rumelt argues that bad strategy often mistakes goals for strategy: a target such as more referrals says what the agency wants but nothing about how to get it or what obstacle stands in the way (Rumelt, 2011). The paper therefore declines to set a referral target as its direction and starts with a diagnosis.
Diagnosis
Referral data by county show the loss concentrated in two rural counties, where the agency's share fell from [70] to [38] percent; in the two urban counties it held near [78] percent. Discharge planners say they send rural patients to outside agencies when the agency cannot promise a start of care within 48 hours. Under the federal home health conditions, a first assessment visit is due within two days after the referral or the discharge home, with an exception for a date the ordering practitioner or the patient chooses (42 C.F.R. § 484.55, 2024). In the rural counties, the agency's median time to start of care is [61] hours, and planners cannot wait to find out whether a nurse will be free. The problem is not that discharge planners do not know the agency; it is that the agency cannot keep its promise in the counties where the drive is longest.
Guiding Policy
Guarantee a start of care within 48 hours in the two rural counties, even if that means slowing expansion of specialty programs in the urban counties. The policy concentrates effort on the obstacle the diagnosis identified and gives every later action a test: does it help keep the 48-hour promise in the rural counties?
Coherent Actions
1. Base two registered nurses in the rural counties, working from home with a car allowance, so the first visit does not start with a [70]-minute drive.
2. Add a weekend and evening start-of-care rotation for rural referrals.
3. Agree with discharge planners on a confirmation rule: the agency confirms a start time within two hours of referral or the planner is free to refer elsewhere.
4. Move a liaison nurse into the larger hospital's case management office three days a week.
5. Pause the planned cardiac specialty program in the urban counties for a year to fund the rural nurses.
Each action supports the policy; together they reinforce one another. A liaison who can confirm a start time is useful only if nurses are available to keep it.
Emergent Strategy Already Under Way
Mintzberg and Waters (1985) contrasted strategies leaders plan and then carry out with strategies that take shape from repeated actions before anyone writes them down. One rural nurse has, on her own, been opening cases on evenings when hospital discharges run late, and her county's share has fallen less than the other's. The direction formalizes a pattern that has already shown it works.
Why the Marketing Campaign Would Fail
The proposed campaign assumed planners did not know or trust the agency. Interviews found the opposite: planners in both hospitals praised the agency's urban care and named it first. Their problem is timing in two counties. A campaign would raise expectations the agency cannot meet there and could damage trust further. The direction spends the campaign's budget on the obstacle instead.
What the Direction Gives Up
The cardiac specialty program, a priority of the previous director, is delayed. Urban marketing is reduced. The agency accepts slower revenue growth for a year, a cost the director will explain to the system's leaders at the outset.
Measures
Median hours to start of care in the rural counties; share of system referrals by county; percentage of referrals confirmed within two hours; nurse overtime.
Risks
Rural nurse recruitment may be slow; the agency will offer the positions first to current staff who live in those counties. Planners may not trust the confirmation rule; the liaison will report weekly results to case management.
Limits
The diagnosis rests on six quarters of data and planner interviews; other factors, such as outside agencies' marketing, may also play a part.
Conclusion
The agency's referral problem is a promise it cannot keep in two counties. A guiding policy built on that diagnosis, coherent actions that support it and an emergent pattern worth formalizing give the new director a direction rather than a target.
References
42 C.F.R. § 484.55 (2024). https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-42/section-484.55
Mintzberg, H., & Waters, J. A. (1985). Of strategies, deliberate and emergent. Strategic Management Journal, 6(3), 257-272. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.4250060306
Rumelt, R. P. (2011). Good strategy/bad strategy: The difference and why it matters. Crown Business.
What the HA515 Unit 5 assignment asks for
Unit 5 typically asks students to develop a strategic direction for a health care organization or service line using a recognized strategy framework. Instructions usually require a diagnosis of the situation, a statement of direction, the actions that will carry it out, what the organization will give up, measures and risks. Many instructors encourage students to distinguish strategy from goals and to consider how strategy can emerge from practice as well as from plans. Support the work with strategy sources and any regulation behind the diagnosis, cited in APA format, with composite figures marked. Any paper that starts with a narrow, evidence-based diagnosis, and refuses to treat a target as a strategy, is usually stronger than one that begins with a vision statement and works backward to actions.
Inside the HA515 Unit 5 example
The sample describes the situation and the proposed referral target, then explains why a target is not a strategy, citing Rumelt, with a margin note on using his three elements. The diagnosis uses county referral data and the federal start-of-care rule, and the highlighted sentence names the broken promise. A guiding policy follows, then five coherent actions tested against it, with a margin note. The emergent strategy section cites Mintzberg and Waters and formalizes one nurse's evening starts. Why a marketing campaign would fail, what the direction gives up, measures with a third note, risks, limits and a conclusion close the paper.
Reading the HA515 Unit 5 grading rubric
Strategic direction rubrics in HA 515 tend to give points for the diagnosis, the guiding policy, coherent actions, trade-offs, use of strategy theory, measures and citations. Diagnosis points depend on narrowing the problem with evidence, such as data by county. Policy points go to a direction that addresses the obstacle the diagnosis found. Action points reward actions that support one another and the policy. Trade-off points require naming what the organization will not do. Theory points need accurate use of strategy frameworks. Measure points go to indicators tied to the diagnosis. Papers that formalize an emergent pattern already working in the organization are usually graded highest, as they tie the plan to what staff already do.
Common HA515 Unit 5 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Strategy papers often lose points by stating a goal, such as increasing referrals by a certain percentage, and calling it a strategy. Another gap is a diagnosis so broad it could describe any organization. Some papers list many unrelated actions. Others never say what will be given up, which makes the strategy look free. Narrow the diagnosis with data, write a guiding policy that addresses the main obstacle, choose a few actions that reinforce each other and name the trade-off. Then look for something already working that the strategy can build on. Explaining why the obvious alternative, such as a marketing campaign, would fail strengthens the case for your direction.
Get an HA515 Unit 5 example written to your instructions
Describe the organization or service line your prompt names, share any data your case includes, and add the Unit 5 instructions and rubric. A first strategic direction paper follows at no cost in 24-48h, beginning from a diagnosis and ending on what the chosen direction deliberately gives up and when it would be reviewed. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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HA515 Unit 5 questions, answered
Where can I find a free HA515 Unit 5 sample paper?
The complete HA515 Unit 5 strategic direction paper is on this page, setting a composite home health agency's course with Rumelt's kernel and an emergent strategy, with three sources. Your own organization's direction can be built the same way.
What is Rumelt's kernel of strategy?
Diagnosis of the challenge, a guiding policy for dealing with it and coherent actions that carry out the policy.
What is an emergent strategy?
A pattern in an organization's actions that forms without an explicit plan, as distinguished from a deliberate strategy.
How quickly must home health start care after referral?
Federal rules generally require the initial assessment visit within 48 hours of referral or return home, unless another date is specified.
How long is the HA515 Unit 5 paper?
About six pages organized by diagnosis, guiding policy and coherent action.