| Course | HS450 Strategic Planning and Change Management for Health Care |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 2 |
| Paper type | Environmental scan |
| Length | About 860 words, 6 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Health Science |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HS450 Unit 2
Fourteen Forces, Four That Bind: A Unit 2 Environmental Scan Rating External Pressures on an Outpatient Therapy Group
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
HS450: Strategic Planning and Change Management for Health Care
Unit 2 Environmental Scan
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Halloway Therapy Partners, its market and every rating are composite; the sources cited are real.
Method
Each force needed a named source before it could be rated: a federal rule, a payer bulletin, state licensing counts, a competitor's public filings or Halloway's own payer reports. Each was then rated for impact on Halloway from 1, minor, to 5, would change the organization's direction, and for probability within three years from 1, unlikely, to 5, already under way. Time to arrival is estimated in months. Strategic planning texts for health care recommend this kind of structured scan so that forces can be compared rather than listed (Ginter et al., 2018).
The Register
Payment policy:
1. Annual Medicare fee schedule adjustments to therapy codes. Source: the yearly physician fee schedule final rule (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS], 2024). Direction: downward pressure. Impact 4, probability 5, arrival 3 months.
2. Medicare's continued multiple procedure payment reduction on therapy services. Impact 3, probability 5, under way.
Payer behavior:
3. Medicare Advantage authorization requirements expanding to more therapy visits. Source: plan bulletins and Halloway's denial reports. Impact 5, probability 5, under way.
4. Commercial payers narrowing networks around hospital systems. Impact 4, probability 3, 18 months.
5. Workers' compensation fee schedule revision under state review. Impact 2, probability 2, 24 months.
Workforce:
6. Physical therapist assistant shortage in rural counties. Source: state licensing board counts. Impact 5, probability 5, under way.
7. Wage growth for therapists above reimbursement growth. Impact 4, probability 4, 12 months.
Competitors:
8. The county health system's hospital-based rehabilitation network adding two locations. Source: public certificate-of-need notice. Impact 4, probability 4, 12 months.
9. A national chain entering the suburban market. Impact 3, probability 2, 24 months.
Technology:
10. Remote therapeutic monitoring codes making home exercise follow-up billable. Source: fee schedule rule. Impact 3, probability 4, 6 months.
11. Online scheduling expected by patients. Impact 2, probability 5, under way.
Regulation:
12. Direct access rules allowing patients to see a therapist without a referral, already in effect in the state. Impact 3, probability 5, under way.
Demographics:
13. Growth in the county's population over 65. Source: census estimates. Impact 4, probability 5, under way.
14. Employers seeking direct contracts for musculoskeletal care. Impact 4, probability 3, 12 months.
Four forces score at least 4 on both impact and probability and arrive within a year, and only those four are allowed to shape this year's plan.
The Verdict
Binding forces for the coming year, each scoring 4 or higher on both scales with arrival within twelve months:
1. Medicare Advantage authorization expansion (force 3).
2. Rural assistant shortage (force 6).
3. Annual Medicare fee schedule pressure (force 1).
4. Hospital network expansion (force 8).
Population growth over 65 (force 13) also scores high but is a slow, favorable trend the plan can absorb without a specific response this year; it is moved to the watch list. Employer direct contracting (force 14) scores 4 on impact but only 3 on probability; it is watched with a trigger: if two of the county's five largest employers issue requests for proposals, it becomes binding.
How the Ratings Were Checked
Two people rated each force independently, the author and Halloway's director of operations, and then compared scores. They disagreed on three forces by more than one point. On the national chain's entry they settled on the lower probability after reading the chain's public expansion plans, which named other states first. On wage growth they settled on the higher impact after reviewing two years of offer letters. On remote monitoring they kept the author's lower impact because Halloway's patients skew older and less likely to use connected devices. Recording these disagreements shows where the scan rests on judgment and where on evidence.
Why Ten Forces Are Watched, Not Answered
A plan that tries to respond to every force responds to none well. The ten watched forces each have an owner who reports any change quarterly. Wage growth, for instance, is tracked through the annual compensation survey, and online scheduling is folded into an existing systems upgrade rather than treated as a strategic matter.
Signals That Would Change the Verdict
Each binding force also carries a signal that would show it weakening or strengthening. If Medicare Advantage denials at Halloway fall below 5 percent for two quarters, authorization moves off the binding list. If the state approves the hospital network's two new locations, its expansion becomes certain and its probability rises to 5. These signals are reviewed quarterly by the director of operations.
What the Scan Hands to the SWOT
The four binding forces move into the Unit 3 analysis as threats and opportunities, with their ratings attached. Industry analysis frameworks remind planners that external forces shape an organization's room to act as much as its own choices (Porter, 2008), and the SWOT will test Halloway's strengths against exactly these four.
References
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (2024). Calendar year 2025 physician fee schedule final rule (CMS-1807-F). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Ginter, P. M., Duncan, W. J., & Swayne, L. E. (2018). The strategic management of health care organizations (8th ed.). Wiley.
Porter, M. E. (2008). The five competitive forces that shape strategy. Harvard Business Review, 86(1), 78-93.
HS450 Unit 2 instructions, in plain terms
Unit 2 typically asks you to conduct an environmental scan of external forces affecting a health care organization and judge which matter most. Expect a register of forces with sources, ratings and timing, followed by a verdict. Grouping by source category, as PESTLE or similar frameworks do, prevents gaps. Require evidence for every force before rating it. Rate impact and probability on defined scales and estimate when each force could arrive. Keep internal strengths and weaknesses out; they belong in the SWOT. Most importantly, sort the forces: decide which bind the plan now and which are watched, and say why. Showing how ratings were checked, for example by a second rater, adds credibility.
Inside the HS450 Unit 2 example
A method section states that each force needs a named source and defines the two rating scales and the arrival estimate, citing a health care strategy text. The register lists fourteen forces under seven headings, each with source, direction, ratings and timing, from Medicare fee schedule adjustments to employer direct contracting. The highlighted sentence gives the binding rule. The verdict names four binding forces and explains why population growth and employer contracting are watched instead. A section records how two raters resolved three disagreements. Sections follow on why ten forces are watched, signals that would change the verdict and what passes to the SWOT, with an industry analysis reference. The register stays at fourteen rows on purpose.
HS450 Unit 2 rubric: what earns full points
Environmental scans are usually graded on breadth and balance, use of evidence, quality of ratings, the sorting of forces and clarity. The sorting of forces often weighs most, because a scan that lists everything without judging priority leaves the plan unguided. Evidence is rewarded when each force has a named source. Ratings earn credit when scales are defined and reasons are given. Breadth is judged on coverage of categories such as workforce and regulation, not just technology. Showing how ratings were checked adds points. Tables and APA citations account for what is left. Scans that include internal weaknesses, or that treat every force as equally important, tend to lose points.
HS450 Unit 2 help: mistakes that cost points
Scans most often disappoint graders when they amount to a long list of trends with no sources or ratings. Another is an imbalanced register dominated by technology while workforce and payer behavior are thin. Some students include internal weaknesses, which belong to the next unit. Ratings without reasons look arbitrary. A missing verdict leaves the scan as a catalog rather than an analysis. Time to arrival is often forgotten, though it decides what binds this year. If your organization faces different pressures, perhaps a rural hospital or a behavioral health clinic, name the categories you can document and we will build a register and verdict from them.
Get an HS450 Unit 2 example written to your instructions
Your organization, or the case that comes with the Unit 2 assignment, along with the rubric, is what the scan needs. Forces are gathered by source, rated with reasons and cut to the few that bind, with triggers for the rest. The scan returns within 24-48h, and a first custom sample costs nothing. 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.
More HS450 papers and BS in Health Science samples
- HS450 Unit 1: Discussion Board Post
- HS450 Unit 3: SWOT Analysis
- HS450 Unit 4: Mission and Vision Critique
- HS450 Unit 5: Strategic Goal Memo
- HS450 Unit 6: Competitive Position Paper
- HS450 Unit 7: Seminar Reflection
- HS450 Unit 8: Change Readiness Assessment
- HS450 Unit 9: Stakeholder Communication Plan
- HS450 Unit 10: Strategic Plan
HS450 Unit 2 questions, answered
How many forces should a scan include?
Enough to cover each source category and few enough that every row gets evidence and a reason. The example caps itself at fourteen. Some sections specify a count or a framework, such as PESTLE, and those instructions govern the headings; the ratings and the binding verdict still matter more than the number of rows.
Can the scan include the organization's own weaknesses?
Not in this unit. An environmental scan covers forces outside the organization's control; internal strengths and weaknesses belong in the SWOT that usually follows. The example keeps a clinic's therapist turnover out of the register and uses the regional supply of therapists instead, which is external. Mixing the two makes the later analysis harder to build.
Where can I find a free HS450 Unit 2 sample paper?
The complete Unit 2 scan is posted here, fourteen rated forces with sources and a verdict naming the four that bind.
What makes an external force binding in an environmental scan?
In the sample, a force binds when it rates at least 4 for both impact and probability and could arrive within twelve months; others are watched with an owner and a trigger.
Should two people rate forces in an environmental scan?
It helps. Independent ratings show where judgments differ, and recording how disagreements were settled shows which ratings rest on evidence and which on judgment.