Healthcare Quality Management Consultants Explain What Population Health Management Is and Its Importance
With the explosion of technology across a wide range of industries, the healthcare industry, in particular, has benefited significantly. One of the key focus areas has been in population health management. Leading healthcare consultancy CSuite Solutions offers their expertise in understanding this vital, and growing area by answering some of the most important questions about what it is, how it works, and why it’s important.
What is population health management?
Population health management can be viewed as the aggregation of patient data. Data is collected from multiple health information resources, then analyzed and compiled into a single patient record. This actionable record by healthcare providers allows for the improvement of both financial and clinical results.
How does population health management work?
The goal of population health management is to improve the health outcomes of an identified group using an intelligence tool. This tool will aggregate the data to provide a comprehensive report of each patient from a clinical perspective. From this report, healthcare providers are empowered to track and improve clinical outcomes, while at the same time lowering healthcare costs.
A population health management program will collate clinical, as well as financial and operational data to provide actionable insights that will help improve the healthcare provider’s efficiency and the level of patient care. For the program to deliver useful analyses, the partnership network will need to be well-managed in addition to offering robust care.
An effective population health management program will provide real-time actionable information to clinicians and administrators, enabling them to identify and effectively address any care gaps that exist in the patient group. In doing this, better outcomes, as well as cost savings, can be expected, particularly in populations with chronic disease.
Population health management will prioritize care management looking at improving the patient’s ability to self-manage effectively, improve the management of medication as well as reducing the cost of care.
Why is population health management important?
There are a number of reasons that population health is important, and it all revolves around the fact that it is people-focused. By improving the health of the average American person, there are tangible positive impacts on all aspects of society as a healthier population is going to be more productive than an ailing one, especially if the costs of healthcare interventions can be reduced.
People expect high-quality healthcare, an increased proportion of earnings are being spent on healthcare, whether it be doctor appointments, lab tests, or prescriptions, and the expectation is that healthcare needs to respond commensurately. Central to this idea is balancing improved patient satisfaction for individuals, while also seeking improved levels of health for populations. There is also the additional benefit of the reduced cost of care as population health management offers efficiencies in diagnosis, treatment, and self-care.
This proactive approach that provides improved access to care so that individuals can get the treatment that they need when they need it rather than putting it off until the problem escalates further, resulting in an emergency condition. Population health management also prioritizes better engagement with patients who are empowered to manage their own health better.
CSuite Solutions works with healthcare providers throughout the United States to deliver innovative solutions that improve patient care while driving efficiencies. In addition to offering professional population health management consulting services, they are also able to assist with direct-to-employer self-funded insurance plans, value-based care, revenue cycle management, and accountable care organizations. Founded by leading C-level healthcare executives with many years of experience, CSuite Solutions is expertly placed to work alongside healthcare systems in an advisory capacity.