Healthcare Trends 2019: #5 - Population Health | Page 2

“C-suite leaders are looking to operationalize their
community-based health and chronic care management
strategies”. Plans have been in the works for years, and
executives are ready to begin implementation.
#5 - We are Finally Addressing Population Health
While the move to value-based care has been a top
priority in recent years, governmental uncertainty and a
slowing of the bundled payment initiative have made
this a lower priority, at least for now, as healthcare
executives look to the future. Instead, a greater focus
on population health management is emerging. In late
September 2018, attendees at the HealthCare
Executive Group (HCEG) ranked their priorities for
2019. The top three were (Pennic, 2018):
1. Data & Analytics: Leveraging data (especially
clinical) to manage health and drive individual,
provider, and payer decisions.

Real-time clinical data access is the foundation for
patient interventions that reduce both unnecessary
utilization and overall care spending. Providers must
use the data to stratify their patients by risk, and
then leverage that information to establish targeted
care plans that help them cut costs (LaPointe, 2017).
Most healthcare organizations still lack the technical
infrastructure and predictive analytics necessary to
understand and influence population health.
2. Total Consumer Health: Improving members’ overall
medical, social, financial, and environmental well-being.

There is a recognition that improving overall health
means more than just addressing a person’s medical
needs. Care definitions are expanding to include
social, financial, and economic issues alongside a
person’s immediate clinical needs. It is widely known
that factors such as socioeconomic status account for
about 40 percent of patients’ health, and these factors
cannot be overlooked when addressing overall health
(LaPointe, 2018).
3. Population Health Services: Operationalizing
community-based health strategy, chronic care
management, driving clinical integration and
addressing barriers to health such as social
determinants.

“C-suite leaders are looking to operationalize their
community-based health and chronic care
management strategies” (LaPointe, 2018). Plans have
been in the works for years, and executives are
ready to begin implementation.
References
LaPointe, Jacqueline. “Value-Based Purchasing, Consumerism Top Healthcare Exec Challenges.” RevCycleIntelligence, RevCycleIntelligence, 24 Sept.
2018, revcycleintelligence.com/news/value-based-purchasing-consumerism-top-healthcare-exec-challenges.
LaPointe, Jacqueline. “Good Data, Better Value-Based Care Can Boost Population Health.” RevCycleIntelligence, RevCycleIntelligence, 11 Sept. 2017,
revcycleintelligence.com/features/good-data-better-value-based-care-can-boost-population-health.
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