Report: Population health management key to accountable care, healthcare reform
Population health management is the key to accountable care and healthcare reform, according to an April report from the Institute for Health Technology Transformation.
The report, “Population Health Management: A Roadmap for Provider-Based Automation in a New Era of Healthcare,” found population health management requires healthcare providers to develop new skill sets and new infrastructures for delivering care.
“To make the transition from fee-for-service reimbursement to accountable care, which depends on the ability to improve population health, providers will need to automate many routine tasks, ranging from identification of care gaps and risk stratification to patient engagement, care management and outcomes measurement,” the report stated.
"In the era of healthcare reform, provider organizations must change their traditional approach and embrace new ways of thinking about their mission," said Waco Hoover, CEO of the Institute for Health Technology Transformation. "They must not only care for the sick, but also strive to keep their patient populations healthy. Information technology is the key to doing this cost efficiently, and automation can enable care teams to identify and work with the patients who truly need their help."
"Patient-centered medical homes based on primary care are the building blocks of accountable care, and IT is the key to successful medical homes,” according to the report. “With the help of registries, EHRs, health information exchanges and other tools for care coordination and automation, healthcare providers can manage their populations effectively and keep their patients as healthy as possible."
Report co-author Andrew W. Steele, MD, MPH, director of medical informatics at Denver Health, said, “Given potential healthcare reform and efforts to increase quality and efficiency of care in the setting of persistent fiscal limitations, the importance of leveraging IT and focusing on population health management has become a top priority for many healthcare institutions.”
“By applying technology to population health strategies to continually identify, assess and stratify provider panels, physician groups can use technology and automation to augment the role of care teams, manage the patient population more effectively and efficiently, drive better outcomes and decrease overall cost, as demanded by new payment incentives focused on value,” the report concluded.
The report, “Population Health Management: A Roadmap for Provider-Based Automation in a New Era of Healthcare,” found population health management requires healthcare providers to develop new skill sets and new infrastructures for delivering care.
“To make the transition from fee-for-service reimbursement to accountable care, which depends on the ability to improve population health, providers will need to automate many routine tasks, ranging from identification of care gaps and risk stratification to patient engagement, care management and outcomes measurement,” the report stated.
"In the era of healthcare reform, provider organizations must change their traditional approach and embrace new ways of thinking about their mission," said Waco Hoover, CEO of the Institute for Health Technology Transformation. "They must not only care for the sick, but also strive to keep their patient populations healthy. Information technology is the key to doing this cost efficiently, and automation can enable care teams to identify and work with the patients who truly need their help."
"Patient-centered medical homes based on primary care are the building blocks of accountable care, and IT is the key to successful medical homes,” according to the report. “With the help of registries, EHRs, health information exchanges and other tools for care coordination and automation, healthcare providers can manage their populations effectively and keep their patients as healthy as possible."
Report co-author Andrew W. Steele, MD, MPH, director of medical informatics at Denver Health, said, “Given potential healthcare reform and efforts to increase quality and efficiency of care in the setting of persistent fiscal limitations, the importance of leveraging IT and focusing on population health management has become a top priority for many healthcare institutions.”
“By applying technology to population health strategies to continually identify, assess and stratify provider panels, physician groups can use technology and automation to augment the role of care teams, manage the patient population more effectively and efficiently, drive better outcomes and decrease overall cost, as demanded by new payment incentives focused on value,” the report concluded.