Cultivating Healthy Populations in 2017: The Role of Technology

Delivering care across a group of individuals or a general population, or Population Health Management (PHM), is one of the goals defined in the NIH’s Quadruple Aim. As more and more hospitals and health systems focus on population healthcare delivery, the movement towards developing software and services surrounding PHM have increased. In fact, the PHM software and services industry has been predicted to double in size by the year 2020.

In the past several years, value-based accountable care has been the focus of reimbursement for providers. The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) changes payments to Merit-Based Incentive Payments (MIPS) and Alternate Payment Models (APM), rewarding cost reduction and value based delivery. Identifying patterns or behaviors, demographics, and social traits is proven in improving overall population health, reducing readmission rates and providing value based delivery.

There are several ways to address population health management, but information technology and data is where it all begins. The availability of data, through technology, at the point of care is what can produce informed health care decision making from the onset. PHM requires technology to support data management, including data aggregation, data governance and data analytics. Provider incentives and compliance must also be supported through any technology used for PHM.

One of the challenges of PHM is that it extends beyond the walls of hospitals or healthcare facilities. Population Health requires reaching the community as they live their daily lives, to prevent illness or recognize warning signs.

Specifically, PHM is advantageous for the treatment of chronic conditions such as diabetes, arthritis, COPD, Alzheimer’s disease, some cancers, or cystic fibrosis, among many others. With many of these conditions, symptoms do not become apparent until after the condition significantly progresses. Managing chronic conditions by the numbers, with healthcare data, can help identify and treat them before they have extensively progressed.

Health systems are using a variety of technological advancements to manage the health of the populations they serve, including:

• Electronic health records (EHR)
• Mobile care coordination
• Data warehouses
• Analytics
• Telemedicine programs

GoMo Health Concierge Care® is an example of a mobile care coordination program that has proven successful results in PHM. It encourages active patient self-management, resulting in increased compliance, reduced cost of care, and improved provider satisfaction or Joy in Practice.

Concierge Care has proven to reduce the cost of care for diverse populations by providing mobile care coordination that support defined clinical protocols. Patient compliance increases as protocols are clearly presented in a step-by-step, small “dose” format, reducing readmissions and the number of physical touchpoints with clinicians while satisfying transitional care delivery requirements for value- based reimbursements.

To learn more about Concierge Care and how it can help with population health management, click the button below.