| Course | HCS 131 Business Communications Skills for Health Care Professionals (HCS/131) |
|---|---|
| Week | 2 |
| Paper type | Communication channel analysis |
| Length | about 1,038 words, 4 double-spaced pages plus title page and references |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | University of Phoenix |
| Program | BS in Health Administration |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for HCS 131 Week 2
Email, Huddle, Video Call or Hallway? Matching Seven Messages to the Right Channel During a Billing System Change in a Hospital Patient Financial Services Department
[Student Name]
University of Phoenix
HCS/131: Business Communications Skills for Health Care Professionals
Week 2 Assignment
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The department, the system change and the staff preferences are composites written for a model paper.
The patient financial services department of a 300-bed hospital has 34 employees: billers, follow-up specialists, customer service representatives, two supervisors and a manager. In eight weeks the hospital will switch to a new billing system. Over the next two months the manager must send dozens of messages about dates, training, policy and people. Some are simple and some are delicate. This paper uses one theory and a short staff survey to choose the right channel for seven of them.
A Framework for Choosing
Daft and Lengel (1986) argued that communication channels differ in richness: the ability to carry many cues at once, give immediate feedback, use natural language and convey personal focus. Face-to-face conversation is richest, followed by video and telephone, then personal written messages such as a direct email, and finally impersonal written documents such as a posted policy. They proposed that richer channels suit equivocal messages, those open to more than one interpretation, while leaner channels suit clear, routine information. A mismatch in either direction causes trouble: a lean channel for a sensitive message invites misunderstanding, and a rich channel for a routine fact wastes everyone's time.
Message 1: The Launch Date
Channel: email to all staff, repeated in the department's weekly huddle. The date is a simple fact that people need to look up later, so a written record helps. Mentioning it in the huddle lets people ask quick questions.
Message 2: A New Policy on Small-Balance Write-Offs
Channel: a short meeting with the follow-up team, followed by the written policy. The new system changes the threshold for writing off small balances, which affects how staff work their queues. Because the policy is open to interpretation at first, the richer channel comes first and the document second.
Message 3: The Training Schedule
Channel: a calendar invitation for each session and a one-page schedule on the shared drive. Staff need exact times and rooms, and calendar tools remind them automatically.
Message 4: A Question About Overtime During Go-Live
Channel: the manager answers in the huddle and follows with an email summary. Overtime affects pay and family plans, so staff want to hear it from the manager and ask about their own situations, then see the details in writing.
Message 5: Feedback to an Employee Falling Behind in Training
Channel: private, face-to-face conversation. Performance feedback is the most equivocal and personal message on the list, and delivering it by email would strip away tone, invite defensiveness and risk other people seeing it. The manager will meet privately, describe what she observed, ask what support would help and agree on next steps, then send a brief written summary afterward.
Message 6: A Rumor About Job Cuts
Channel: the manager addresses it at an all-staff meeting, in person with a video link for remote staff. Rumors thrive on silence and lean channels. The manager will say what she knows, what she does not know and when she will know more. A written follow-up confirms the key points.
Message 7: Daily Updates During Go-Live Week
Channel: a 10-minute standing huddle each morning, with a video option, and a short email recap each afternoon. During go-live, problems change hourly. Gershman (2020) warns that video meetings lose attention quickly, so the virtual huddle will be kept short, cameras on and one question asked of each person.
What Staff Prefer
The manager asked all 34 staff five questions about their preferences; 29 answered. Most preferred email for schedules and facts, and nearly all wanted news about jobs or pay in person. Remote follow-up specialists asked for video rather than phone during go-live so they could see screens being shared. Several longer-tenured billers asked that training materials also be printed. Preferences confirmed the theory in most cases and added practical details the manager would not have guessed, such as the printed materials.
Listening as a Channel
Every channel above includes a way back. Staff can reply to emails, ask questions in huddles, raise concerns privately with a supervisor or use an anonymous suggestion form on the shared drive. During a system change, what staff notice first, such as a screen that hides a field or a payer whose claims fail, is often the most useful information the manager gets. Setting aside the last three minutes of each huddle for questions, and answering every question in the afternoon recap, shows staff that the channels run in both directions and that speaking up changes something.
Perception and Defensive Communication
The course's material on perception applies here too. The same message can be heard differently by a biller who has used three systems in twenty years and by one who has used only the old one. Messages that sound like blame, such as "some people are not keeping up with training," raise defensiveness across the whole group. Describing the task, not the person, and naming the support available, keeps the conversation on the work. The manager will review each all-staff message for words that could be heard as blame before sending it.
Writing the Emails Well
Because several messages still go by email, how they are written matters. Dhawan (2021) recommends slowing down: stating the purpose in the first line, keeping sentences short, making any request explicit and rereading for tone before sending. The launch email will open with the date and the one action staff need to take, and it will end with the name of the person to ask.
A One-Page Communication Plan
The plan lists each message type, its channel, its sender, its timing and how feedback will be collected: facts by email and huddle, policy by meeting then document, personal matters face to face, uncertainty in person with a written follow-up, and fast-changing updates in short daily huddles. No patient information will travel by standard email or text; account questions will stay in the billing system's secure messaging.
Conclusion
Choosing a channel is part of the message. By matching each of seven messages to the richness it needs, and by asking staff what they prefer, the manager gives a stressful system change its best chance of going smoothly.
References
Daft, R. L., & Lengel, R. H. (1986). Organizational information requirements, media richness and structural design. Management Science, 32(5), 554-571. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.32.5.554
Dhawan, E. (2021). Slow down and write better emails. Harvard Business Review Digital Articles, 1-5.
Gershman, S. (2020). Stop zoning out in Zoom meetings. Harvard Business Review Digital Articles, 2-5.
What the HCS 131 Week 2 instructions ask
HCS 131 Week 2 generally asks students to compare types of communication used in health care workplaces and to explain how preferences and purposes should shape the choice. Some versions are a summative assessment on interpersonal communication, covering perception, listening and defensive communication; others ask for a short paper or table comparing channels such as email, phone, video, text and face-to-face meetings for specific workplace messages. Prompts often ask students to consider audience, urgency, sensitivity and complexity, and to reflect on their own preferences. Some instructors want one to three pages; others accept a completed comparison table with a short explanation under each row. Instructors look for choices justified by the message's purpose rather than convenience, and for awareness of privacy rules when patient information is involved.
How this HCS 131 Week 2 example is built
The sample opens with the situation: a new billing system launching in eight weeks and a manager who has to keep 34 staff informed, trained and calm. Media richness theory is introduced next, explaining why face-to-face conversation handles ambiguous messages best and written notices handle simple ones. The core of the paper is seven messages, each with the channel chosen and a sentence of reasoning: the launch date, a policy change on write-offs, the training schedule, a question about overtime, feedback to an underperforming employee, a rumor about job cuts and a daily go-live update. A section reports what staff said about their preferences in a five-question survey. The paper closes with a communication plan and a note on email writing.
HCS 131 Week 2 grading rubric: where the points go
Grading for this week usually focuses on the soundness of channel choices and the reasoning behind them. Faculty reward papers that match each message to a channel based on audience, urgency, complexity and sensitivity, and that support those choices with a recognized framework or professional source. Attention to privacy and to the difference between informing and discussing earns credit. Clear organization, such as one section or table row per message, makes grading easy. Professional tone and correct grammar count heavily in a communication course. APA format completes the grade. Papers lose points for recommending email for everything, for sending sensitive personnel messages in group channels, or for describing channels without ever applying them to a situation.
HCS 131 Week 2 help: mistakes to avoid
A common mistake in HCS 131 Week 2 is describing each communication type in the abstract, listing advantages and disadvantages of email and phone, without deciding which one fits a specific message. Always tie the channel to a message. Another mistake is overlooking sensitivity: performance feedback, layoffs and anything involving a patient's information need private, richer channels. Students also forget that preferences differ; asking the audience how they like to receive information is part of good communication. When you recommend email, show that you know how to write one well, with the request in the first lines. Keep your own writing clear and short. Finally, cite a framework such as media richness so the choices rest on more than opinion.
Related HCS 131 sample papers
Other HCS 131 week samples
- HCS 131 Week 1: Communication in a Diverse Workplace
- HCS 131 Week 3: Collaboration Through Conflict
- HCS 131 Week 4: Teamwork and Collaboration
- HCS 131 Week 5: Customer Service and Perception
More BS in Health Administration sample papers
- HCS 120 Week 2: Speaking the Language of the Body
- HCS 235 Week 2: Health Care Services
- HCS 325 Week 2: Teamwork, Communication, and Organizational Structure
- HCS 341 Week 2: Employment Law Applied to a Staffing Scenario
HCS 131 Week 2 questions, answered
What does HCS/131 Week 2 usually ask for?
Many sections ask students to compare communication types, such as email, phone, video and face-to-face meetings, and to choose the right one for workplace messages based on purpose, audience and sensitivity.
Where can I find a free HCS 131 Week 2 sample paper?
Everything for this week is on the page above: a free, full HCS 131 Week 2 paper that matches seven messages to channels, with margin notes. Ask for your own scenario and the first custom sample is free.
What is media richness theory?
Proposed by Daft and Lengel, it ranks channels by how much information they carry, with face-to-face talk richest and written notices leanest, and holds that ambiguous messages need richer channels.
When should a manager not use email?
For sensitive, emotional or ambiguous messages, such as performance problems, job changes or conflicts, which need a conversation where tone and questions can be handled in real time.
Can patient information be discussed by text message?
Only through secure, approved systems; standard text messages and personal email are not appropriate for protected health information under HIPAA.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official University of Phoenix document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
Request this one custom, free · All HCS 131 week samples · All courses