Assessment 3: The Reformer’s Pitch
Value: 50%
Purpose: To develop an overview of a presentation that you or anyone else could make, setting out a contemporary health sector challenge and your suggested approach to driving reforms to address that challenge. You will not give the presentation, but the materials you develop should serve as a very effective basis for doing so.
Maximum Length: 2,000 words (including all notes and references, but not words contained in 12 PowerPoint Slides).
Purpose
This unit health Sector Reform is designed to give you the knowledge and skills required to effectively analyse contemporary health sector challenges and propose sound reforms to address key aspects of those challenges. The Theorist’s Map (Assessment 1) was your first opportunity to engage with your topic of interest and bring a theoretical mindset to that topic. Here, you are expected to build upon what you learned there and what you learned in the five sessions of the unit.
So as well as introducing a health sector challenge, you should be applying theory to step back from the problem and discuss what you see as the key factors that are contributing to the challenge. From here, you should consider how systems thinking might guide your interpretation of the situation.
You should then discuss possible leverage points for driving reform. And you should also provide
some guidance about the kind of strategic planning you think will be needed to guide a reform
effort. While this exercise is primarily requiring you to produce a written document, you are also
expected to think about how you would convey your message in a presentational form. Given that,
you are required to include 1 or 2 PowerPoint slides in your document. These PowerPoint slides do
not have to be elaborate in design, but they should definitely look suitably useful as possible
background to a verbal pitch.
Key Resources
The most important resource to start with is your Theorist’s Map (Assessment 1). You should review
that document and the articles that you introduced within it. These will help you to develop a clear
introduction to the health sector challenge of interest to you. From here, you should also be able to
talk about the kind of challenge this is. What are the factors that appear to have contributed to the
challenge arising? This is where your grounding in the intellectual tradition of health sector and
health management thinking will prove of high value. You can then tap into some of the insights
from the readings presented in the other sessions of this unit. For example, it is anticipated that you
will gain useful insights for this Assessment from reviewing the readings on systems thinking and
strategic planning.
Instructions
Each Reformer’s Pitch will have unique features. However, it is important that you follow the
instructions provided here. All of them are reflected in the Marking Rubric for this Assessment.
Title: Provides a Title that names a specific area of health sector activity, followed by the words: ‘A
Proposal for Reform’ (e.g., Digital Record Sharing and Patient Privacy in the Health Care Sector: A
Proposal for Reform.)
Introduction: Use the Introduction to establish the importance of the health sector challenge to be
addressed.
Context and Background: This section should provide relevant details about the emergence of this
health sector challenge and provide appropriate citations.
Relevant Theory: This section should explain how we might understand this challenge as an instance
of a broader class of problems commonly seen in the health sector.
Addressing the Challenge: This section should suggest, in broad terms, what responses could be
taken to address the challenge. You do not need to address every aspect of the challenge, but you
should strive to prioritise responses. What responses are possible and practical?
Leverage Points: This section builds upon ‘Addressing the Challenge’. It should bring a systems
thinking sensibility to the challenge and the proposed response. What reform efforts could have the
most impact? You do not have to indicate more than one leverage point, although it is fine if you do.
Strategic Planning: This section provides a look ahead to implementation of your proposed reform.
Here you should move from considering ways to address the challenge and possible leverage points
to now offer a well-considered set of 2-3 suggestions for actual reform work. Key insights from
strategic planning should guide the structure of this section.
PowerPoint Slides: Your Reform’s Pitch must include 1-2 PowerPoint Slides, imported from
PowerPoint into Word. Format your slides to take up no more than half a page of space each in your
Word document. They can be placed in the Word document either between sections of your text or
at the end of the document. The Slides should serve to usefully capture key points you would seek to
emphasize in your Pitch if you were giving it as a verbal presentation. Content of the slides should
reflect content in specific sections of your document.
Overall presentation: Please strive to develop a clear, well-structured document. One way to revise
and finalise the document is to consider this scenario: A senior manager in your organisation is going
to deliver this pitch. You have been asked to create the pitch for them. Ask yourself: Will the senior
manager find this document easy to follow? Will they see how the PowerPoint slides can effectively
support their presentation? One useful way to check this is to ask another person to read your draft
document and give you some advice for refinements.
The Marking Rubric for the Reformer’s Pitch
Grading Criteria: Value:
(Points out of 100)
Your Grade:
Provides a Title that names a specific area of health sector
point 10
activity, followed by the words: ‘A Proposal for Reform’
(e.g., Digital Record Sharing and Patient Privacy in the
Health Care Sector: A Proposal for Reform.)
‘Introduction’ section establishes the importance of the
health sector challenge to be addressed.
point 10
‘Context and Background’ section provides relevant details
about the emergence of this health sector challenge and
provides appropriate citations.
point 10
‘Relevant Theory’ section explains how we might
understand this challenge as an instance of a broader class
of problems commonly seen in the health sector.
point 10
‘Addressing the Challenge’ section suggested, in broad
terms, what responses could be taken to address the
challenge. You do not need to address every aspect of the
challenge, but you should strive to prioritise responses.
What responses are possible and practical?
point 20
‘Leverage Points’ section builds upon ‘Addressing the
point 10
Challenge’. It brings a systems thinking sensibility to the
challenge and the proposed response. What reform efforts
could have the most impact?
‘Strategic Planning’ section moves from considering ways
to address the challenge and possible leverage points to
offer a well-considered set of 2-3 suggestions for actual
reform work. Key insights from the discipline of strategic
planning are reflected in this section.
point 10
1-2 PowerPoint Slides have been embedded in the Word
point 10
document (either between sections of the text or at the
end of the document.) The Slides each take up no more
than half a page in space in the Word document. The slides
serve to usefully capture key points you would seek to
emphasize in your Pitch. Content of the slides should
reflect content in specific sections of your document.
Overall presentation is clear and well-structured. There are point 10
no more than 5 references.
Total: 100