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Assignment 1:
Business Case………
Getting started
7307MED Health Economics T3 2019
Assignment 1: Business Case
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Key issues for the Business Case
▪ 2,000 words –
▪ if you need you could put materials (words, costs, information etc etc)
in tables, charts, graphs etc as words in those don’t count towards the
2,000 words – don’t forget to correctly refer and link what’s in tables
and charts to the body of your business case work
▪ Citation words inside your business case do count towards the 2,000
▪ Use the SIM Health business case template to develop and present your
work
As usual, make sure you read all information about the assignment that
is on the course site.
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What information have you been given
There are four groups of information that you have been given –
1. Information about your organisation, SIM Health – about SIM Health;
SIM Health organisation chart; SIM Health regional map of facilities
2. Funding announcement – the Minster for Health has set out a call for
business case submission and includes information on the objectives
of the initiative; objectives of the Government’s “Push for Life”
program; and details of the funding on offer ($47m over 4 years).
3. Internal communications from senior staff in SIM Health
4. Copy of the SIM Health business case template the organisation
uses
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What information has not been given
While information has been given – some of it is specific (see Minister’s
media release); some of it is suggested or recommended (see emails
from senior Managers in SIM Health) – there will be gaps in information –
so you may have to make assumptions: this is perfectly OK just
remember to justify/explain your assumptions (briefly).
You will need to set out your bid – you will need to decide what you are
bidding for e.g. there is $47m over 4 years for the whole State – are you
bidding for some or all of it?; if you are thinking of bidding for all of it – do
you think the State’s allocation would come to SIM Health; your proposal
needs to be proportion to the size of bids etc etc etc
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But where is the question????????
▪ There is no specific or directive question on what and how you are to develop your plan and express
it in a business case.
▪ One of the key objectives from this assignment is that you will be able to interpret information
provided and work out how your organisation (SIM Health) might go about developing a response to
the Government’s call for ideas, approaches and funding.
▪ You need to understand your SIM organisation and interpret the requirements call for submission
form the Minister’s Announcement.
▪ You will need to work out a plan; maybe gather other information; use the prompts inside the draft
business case template etc.
▪ There may different approaches, numbers and ideas between each student’s business case
development.
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Key Development actions
▪ At the heart of the project is you working out what services and approach SIM Health wants to bid
▪ Consider the Government’s call in their “Push for Life” program; consider what SIM Health does and
not do in terms of services etc for this group in the community
▪ Use the learnings from the first part of our course to support development of ideas; market;
consumers etc etc
▪ There are no single right answers – most probably everyone’s proposal and pricing and business
case will be different – based on your thinking about what could be offered
▪ The program is aimed at care and services for the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
peoples in terms of presentation, care and support for Type 2 Diabetes – so you may be interested
in finding information and resources around this group in the community in terms of developing and
strengthening your proposals?
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Using the Business Case template
SIM Health uses a standard Business Case template for development of
these – so you would use the Business Case template provided
The layout (headings) are in the format used by SIM Health and there
are some prompts in the template about what information you might
provide under each section – you might want to put more information in
so as to ensure you have a strong argument and presentation in your
business case
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Using the Business Case template
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The Business Case template
gives you structure and
information and about detail –
but you may need to modify or
extend etc depending on your
options etc
Examples – you need to modify 3.2 to fit your plan
and targets and measurables; the number of options
would be driven by what you have put together as a
package etc etc
Consider the Marking Criteria
▪ The marking criteria for this assignment is on the course site
▪ The key assessment (and therefore your focus on content and quality)
are about:
▪ Concepts and theories – issues; understanding; application
▪ Evidence use
▪ Communication – presentation; structure; logic etc
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Possible questions?
What if I have more than 2,000 words?
Put materials, data and information in tables, charts and graphs (and refer to them) – words in tables, crats, graphs appendices etc
don’t count into the 2,000 words
Do I need to provide citation/references?
Yes. Standard professional, business and academic writing – acknowledge the work of others.
I can’t find the exact question to tell me what the task is?
There is no specific question. A part of this assignment is that you work out a possible bid/proposal/set of options and build your
business case around that. You would use the background information and your own ideas that are fpcues on the Government’s call
in line with their “Push for Life” initiative.
Do I just use the information provided on the course site or do I need to do research?
Yes but you might want to add to that to give you depth, ideas, approaches etc from the literature and other sources
There is a lot of information about SIM Health but not all relates to diabetes services?
You are a staff member of SIM Health – all the background information is so you know about what SIM Health has and is doing and
what are the capabilities and resources for this organisation.
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Possible questions?
Do I have to reference all the material provided on the L@G site e.g. the ‘About SIM Health’, internal
emails and telephone messages etc etc
No. You are a SIM Health staff member so all that information is background to you and how you work. Maybe
if you telling people in your business case about SIM Health etc you might reference where your advice came
from.
Can some of us work on this as a group project?
No. This is an individual assignment – everyone submits their own Business Case.
What is my business case (ideas, proposals, options, costings etc) are different to other students?
That is quite expected – as you are developing your own ideas and approaches (Options etc) in your business
case and you will be pricing it based on what models and concepts you develop – so it most probably will not be
the same business case as other students submit.
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Assignment 1 – in Summary
▪ Developing a business case is about putting forward an argument or
opportunity that a project or initiative could be competed – it needs
both development of what, how, when and where you might deliver
your ideas and it involves setting out how you will organise, deliver,
manage and fund your initiative(s)
▪ Due date/time is: Monday, 2nd December by 9:00 am (Brisbane time)
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