Where are we in Population Health Management (PHM)?

Abstract

Population Health Management (PHM) has become an important force of most healthcare facilities in cost recovery planning and risk management. According to a HIMSS survey, about 66% of hospitals and healthcare systems have PHM or similar activity affecting the course of events. This is not being monitored by a number of “Accountable Care Organization (ACOs)” that are not associated with a hospital or health framework and that are also starting to create PHM opportunities. Many organizations anticipating a market shift towards valuable care follow key treatment approaches to design a patient-centered hospital. Some revolutionary healthcare facilities are also looking for clinically coordinated professionals and organizations to thrive and bring different healthcare providers across the care chain under one umbrella for the purpose of negotiation. Additionally, most healthcare facilities do not yet realize that PHM encompasses both medical and behavioral health services. Additionally, since healthcare only identifies 10% -25% of variables in individual healthcare, healthcare facilities must also employ social workers and produce organizations through online services. Given where most organizations are on their PHM journey, it is not surprising that exactly a quarter of PHM healthcare providers do not use IT systems designed specifically for this purpose. To date, most health systems use what is available for PHM applications in their EPHR (Electronic personal health record) - and that’s not enough today.