To be such a prevalent subject, population health is such a diverse reality. When confronted with the subject you should ask qualifying questions to be sure which population is being referenced. Most often the person who is discussing it has their own definition that fits the point they are making. Ask someone from a payer, provider, government or employer and they all would explain it differently. It is a somewhat simpler discussion in countries that have their health financed by a single government source because it means the whole population of the country. However, as you move to a health structure like the U.S., at least 6 or more populations are regularly considered when defining real impact on the health of those included.
The most obvious populations are over 65(Medicare), Medicaid, Federal Employees, Employees of a Company, and those with a specific disease. Further complicating the issue is that many payers have their own protocols for certain populations that may differ from the providers usual way of dealing with those patients. The structure of the care team available to any population dramatically impacts any chance of a truly promising outcome and sustainability. With much of the consolidation in the provider space as well as the shift of risk to providers we may see a positive energy around individuals and populations being clearly defined and managed.
Populations have almost become a cop-out to truly considering a focus on each individual and their specific needs, issues and influencing opportunities. It is a very difficult and horizontal effort within a company to take on any population let alone even fathom considering each individual. It requires new sources of information, cross departmental collaboration, care and support teams from disparate entities and new ways to engage individuals.
It is invigorating when a population discussion can span the big population, the diseases, and individuals even if all cannot be covered early in the effort. The information, requirements, collaboration, processes, tools, technology and engagement strategies are very similar for all and should be built in early rather than redo the work later in the effort.
Approaching the subject of population health requires everyone to bring energy to the discussion and clarity to the actual population under discussion. If we allow the discussions to remain only subsets and small pieces of the population we will see very sporadic results not true transformation. Each individual knows real people with real needs whether currently healthy or sick. Building capabilities to help them all is an exciting assignment that we all should own.
It is mandatory to energize the population health discussion now and keep up the dialogue.
IBM has issued the first in a series of reports about this titled Precision Health and Wellness: The next step for population health management prepared by the IBM Institute of Business Value (IBV). Further reports will delve deeper into the subject and approaches.
Make it real for your own organization.
Visit booth #1809 at HIMSS17 to learn more about IBM Watson Health population health management solutions. Click here: IBM Watson Health at HIMSS17.
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