A population health approach is an effective method for assisting health organizations in enhancing the quality of care for different populations. These strategies also have the potential to save money by decreasing health care usage. Specifically, the tactics described in this paper have proven effective in various contexts, including primary care, acute care institutions, and public health centers. By Segmenting Patient Populations and concentrating on Overall Health, a population health strategy may be utilized to enhance performance and save expenses.
Segmenting Patient Populations
“Age, gender, sickness or illness, sociodemographic characteristics, behavior, and risk stratification on any one of such factors are strategies for classifying people for better treatment” (Wasserman, 2019). Age and illness, with risk stratification, are the most popular classification systems. Risk stratification may provide a better accurate depiction of the considered population. Using risk stratification to segment patient groups is a crucial first step in building an acceptable community healthcare program. “The first step in tackling the high expense of chronic illnesses is to divide the population into perceived risk categories” (MADUBUONWU & MEHTA, 2021). This step presents the prospect of “reducing avoidable readmissions and connecting subpopulations to community-based services” so that persons may live healthier lifestyles.
Focusing on Overall Health
According to the evidence, those living in impoverished conditions seem to be less healthy than those in privileged situations. In addition, those who live in extreme poverty and bad accommodation have higher mortality rates and illness and incur more healthcare expenses. “More resources should be invested in promoting health and illness prevention for the healthcare system to enhance people’s health while limiting expenditures” (Wasserman, 2019). The growing emphasis on the public health strategy is essential, which reduces the focus on the exclusive treatment of patient-centered diseases (Wasserman, 2019). Better health outcomes may be attained if the health system invests in developing healthy communities with support programs and nutritious settings. The scope of health policy must be broadened to include elements beyond the healthcare system that support or undermine health.
Population health management is a valuable technique for controlling the escalation of healthcare costs and chronic illness prevalence while enhancing health outcomes. Concentrating on disease prevention before clinical symptoms is crucial to this endeavor. The segmentation of populations aid in addressing the underlying causes of chronic illnesses and the execution of such strategies target the treatment and prevention of those with the greatest need.
References
MADUBUONWU, J., & MEHTA, P. (2021). How Telehealth can be used to improve maternal and child health outcomes: A population approach. Clinical Obstetrics & Gynecology, 64(2), 398-406. https://doi.org/10.1097/grf.0000000000000610
Wasserman, J., Palmer, R. C., Gomez, M. M., Berzon, R., Ibrahim, S. A., & Ayanian, J. Z. (2019). Advancing health services research to eliminate health care disparities. American journal of public health, 109(S1), S64-S69.https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.2018.304922
