Managing Population Health
One important key to accountability through emerging health networks is the ability to identify and manage the health needs of very specific populations. Population health management is defined as providing for the particular healthcare needs of a targeted group of individuals. Examples of distinct populations might be specific ethnic groups, disabled persons, prisoners, seniors, high-school students, our own SCL Health associates, or any other defined group.
The goal is to prevent health problems in these groups before they start, or manage them better once they do. To manage population health, we need to understand the demographics of each group, know their historic patterns of using services and healthcare resources, then anticipate their future preventive and interventional needs. This requires special technology to capture clinical and financial data at the individual and group level.
SCL Health selected the Lumeris Accountable Delivery System Platform (ADSP), specifically built for population health management. ADSP integrates data from systems across the full range of care — including claims, EMR, pharmacy and lab — to provide the information needed to better identify the specific needs of our patient populations.
Once clear patterns emerge, we can help people manage their health better with targeted prevention strategies, optimized access to services, and coordinated care. A key focus is management of chronic conditions such as diabetes, obesity and congestive heart failure.
SCL Health Report to the Community 2014 – Transforming Health With a Caring Spirit
