By Fred Goldstein, MS and Gregg Masters, MPH
Every sector in health care is under pressure to articulate and implement a viable population health initiative that delivers on the triple aim of better health, better quality at a better cost.
Despite a significant investment of resources, we have only achieved ‘mixed results’ to date, and so the industry remains in a continuous learning mode. Although we’ve taken away some insights, we still have a long way to go.
Recently on Pophealth Week, we chatted with the ‘Dean’ of Population Health who spearheaded and continues to steward the nation’s first freestanding College of Population Health at Jefferson University in Philadelphia. David Nash, MD, MBA weighed in on the industry’s evolution — including best practices to emulate —and what near term challenges we are likely to face.
To listen to Dr. Nash’s take, click here, and for additional context checkout ‘The Road From Volume-To-Value: The Pivotal Role of Population Health’.
If you’ve worked in this space – at the strategy or operational level — you know that it can be truly daunting to implement a population health program. This can lead some organizations to shy away from attempting meaningful programs, perhaps even into a copycat ‘me too’ effort. Given the inevitable drive to value-based care, it is a strategic imperative to understand how to build and implement population health initiatives that work.
In its simplest framework, one can think of a population health program in terms of the following components as articulated by the Population Health Alliance Outcomes Guidelines Report Volume 6, 2015.
The steps of the Population Health Framework as shown in the image above include:
- Identify the population
- Assess the person for risk(s)
- Stratify the person into risk levels to target for various interventions
- Engage the person in a program
- Intervene with specific services and resources and
- Measure the process and outcome results
These results are then fed back into the system and the process continued all seeking to improve the overall health of the population.
In Search of Answers
One forum many look to for best practices and key insights is the Population Health Colloquium, now in its 18th year with the Jefferson College of Population Health as academic partner. Scanning this year’s Agenda, one can find presentations in each of the elements above.
Data and Analytics are the essential ingredients of any population health program with intent to identify individuals, assess them for various risks or conditions, stratify them to ensure appropriate levels of intervention and measure a program’s success.
Within the area of assessment, we are moving to an ‘N of 1’ approach given the advances in precision medicine and genomics. This exciting area will be covered at the conference in the mini summit entitled Personalized Medicine, Machine Learning and Genomics: a Clinical Approach to Employer Population Health and Wellbeing.
Payment models and the move to value-based care are among the key levers. Although there have been more than a few stops and starts along the way with the change in administration at the federal level, employers are rapidly embracing these approaches. There are a number of presentations on this topic, including Journey to Value-Based Care — Experience and Expectations, Accountable Care Atlas: Mapping a Path to Value-Based Care and a Mini Summit ACOs at an Inflection Point: Where the Movement is Headed and Why Some Succeed While Others Don’t.
In the Intervention area, there are presentations covering ‘On the Ground: Population Health initiatives’… and we can’t forget about the patients — they, too, have a strong role to play in these efforts. The Mini Summit, Improving Patient Care and Provider Experience through Population Health Management, is timely and informative.
Community-based programs have become all the rage as we better understand the impact on your health based on where and how you live. A breakout track entitled Population Health in the Community includes discussions on life expectancy gaps in Chicago; Rural and Urban Issues; and primary care and behavioral health that will address some of the approaches.
The program will feature a session on designing and implementing population health, and of course there will be some incredible keynotes and small panel discussions. The program includes a discussion with two former HHS Secretaries, Tommy Thompson and Michael Leavitt, and baseball great Darryl Strawberry will discuss addiction, a critical issue we are now facing with the opioid crisis.
If you are committed to learning more about Population Health, this meeting is a must. It’s an event where you can learn from experts covering the full breadth of population health services and have an opportunity to network. Whether you choose to travel to Philadelphia or attend via live webinar, please plan to join us and stop by to say hello. We’d love to hear all about what you’re doing in this exciting space.
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This post is sponsored by the Jefferson College of Population Health
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