By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    learn to recognize and treat yeast infections
    Most Commonly Asked Questions About Yeast Infections
    November 17, 2021
    Advanced lung cancer diagnosis systems used by doctors
    Advanced Lung Cancer Diagnosis Systems Used by Doctors
    March 6, 2022
    The Top Benefits of a Wearable Blood Pressure Monitor Watch
    The Top Benefits of a Wearable Blood Pressure Monitor Watch
    June 13, 2022
    Latest News
    Clean Your Mattress Properly to Avoid Common Health Issues
    March 29, 2023
    5 Benefits Of HIPAA-Compliant Answering Services
    March 28, 2023
    3 Ways To Deal With Health Issues In Cities With High Pollution
    March 22, 2023
    What Tools Should Your Caregiver Have?
    March 22, 2023
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    healthcare jobs without a bachelors degree
    6 Amazing Healthcare Careers That Don’t Require A Bachelor’s Degree
    January 8, 2021
    healthcare.gov health data at risk
    HealthCare.gov’s Security Issues: Did Government Put ePatients’ Health Data Privacy at Risk?
    November 5, 2013
    Quality and Cost Savings Through Consumer Engagement
    August 23, 2017
    Latest News
    What Are Bioidentical Hormones Made With?
    March 23, 2023
    Cover Medical Costs of Child Dog Bites with Legal Specialists
    March 23, 2023
    3 Ways to Improve the U.S. Healthcare System By 2030
    March 14, 2023
    6 Steps To Ensure Speed And Efficiency Of Clinical Studies
    March 14, 2023
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: 3 Major Technologies Providers Need for Population Health Management
Share
Sign In
Notification Show More
Latest News
healthy travel tips when visiting Australia
7 Essential Tips to Stay Safe and Healthy Visiting Australia
News
health risks of dirty mattress
Clean Your Mattress Properly to Avoid Common Health Issues
Health
eligble for NDIS?
Are You Eligible For NDIS? How To Apply
News
upgrade to your nursing career
4 Pertinent Ways to Upgrade Your Nursing Career
Nursing
career in nursing
8 Keys to A Fulfilling & Successful Career in Nursing
Career
Aa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Aa
Search
Have an existing account? Sign In
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Business > Hospital Administration > 3 Major Technologies Providers Need for Population Health Management
BusinessHospital AdministrationTechnology

3 Major Technologies Providers Need for Population Health Management

Zach Watson
Last updated: 2014/08/05 at 8:11 AM
Zach Watson
Share
7 Min Read
health technology
SHARE

health technologyOne needn’t look too deeply to discover why population health management (PHM) is quickly growing in popularity.

health technologyOne needn’t look too deeply to discover why population health management (PHM) is quickly growing in popularity. The current focus on individual-based care has failed to produce meaningful reductions in healthcare costs, which has led the industry to change its focus both in terms of payment models and treatment models.

Forecasting transitions seems to be a full time job in healthcare, but in terms of reimbursement, the coming transition away from fee-for-service to quality-based payments is simply too monumental to omit. And while that new payment model reflects the payers’ desire to reduce costly readmissions, the providers’ response has been to re-examine care through the lens of population-based preventative care. In fact, 56 percent of healthcare organizations identify population health initiatives as one of the most imperative undertakings of 2014 according to the Healthcare Intelligence Network.

Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, the barrier to PHM is high. In order to use advanced segmentation techniques to stratify sub-population groups and implement predictive models to forecast high-risk patients, a sophisticated infrastructure must be in place. So far, electronic medical records, practice management systems, and increasingly, patient portals have formed the backbone of healthcare technology.

More Read

AI in healthcare education

Colleges Prove the Huge Benefits of AI in Healthcare Education

The Evolution of Mental Health Technology Helps Treat OCD
Best Practices for Healthcare Call Centers Should Follow in 2023
How Hospitals and Other Healthcare Providers Can Boost Employee Morale
8 Advances in Medical Technology That Are Changing Everything

But in their current state, these technologies aren’t sufficient to manage the health of entire populations. The main reasons lie in the lack of automation capabilities among disparate systems. Interoperability is increasingly available to healthcare organizations, but not in an intuitive manner. HL7 and Continuum of Care documents are often transferred on a per-patient basis, making interoperability at scale difficult. The following three technologies will be critical for the success of population health management moving forward.

Health Information Exchange

To effectively construct a longitudinal patient history that’s available to providers throughout the continuum of care, health information exchanges will be vital. According to HIMSS 2013 Analytics report, 73 percent of senior health IT professionals reported participating in at least one HIE. Although the sample size is somewhat small for this study, the high response rate bodes well for the future of this technology, with Meaningful Use undoubtedly playing a part in the high number of HIE participants.

Semantically, the term HIE can be somewhat confusing, as it can refer to the actual exchange of healthcare information, as well as the network on which said exchange takes place. For clarity, it’s helpful to briefly examine the different types of HIEs.

Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIOs) are exchanges that operate on a state or regional level, and typically receive funds from federal or state governments to support their operating costs. With a few notable exceptions, the largest challenge for RHIOs has not been exchanging data, but rather creating a sustainable business model.

Health Information Organizations (HIOs) operate health information exchanges that vary in size, from state-wide networks, to exchanges that only cover one city. HIOs can be government-funded organizations, but private HIOs have more recently begun to rise in prominence.

According to the aforementioned HIMSS report, 57 percent of respondents said they participated in a State HIO, while 32 percent confirmed they exchanged information through a regional HIE.

Patient Registries

It’s an often cited statistic, but chronic disease affects some 20 percent of the US population, yet accounts for nearly 75 percent of the costs. This disparity in cost and population stems from a lack of coordination between providers, many of whom are used to competing with one another for patients. As a result, patient registries, or disease registries in a narrower sense, are beginning to become a common method for examining patient populations with chronic diseases, most commonly type 2 diabetes and heart conditions.

Patient registries can be used for a multitude of purposes, such as tracking the efficacy of a treatment, comparing local performance measurements against national benchmarks, determining the cost of a particular treatment, and so on. Patient registries have historically been used for clinical research purposes, but are now increasingly being used to uncover disparities in patient populations. Patient registries often pull data from a clinical data warehouse, and may be integrated within an EHR.

Data Analytics

The final and most complex piece of the puzzle, data analytics software will do the heavy data mining in the patient registry database to uncover trends in subpopulations by city, condition, demographics, and so on. Predictive models could help reveal which patients are most likely to be non-compliant, as well as uncover externalities of specific treatments that physicians are unable to otherwise isolate.

Often described in abstract terms — in most cases organizations are admonished to create their own — data analytics systems for healthcare are becoming more widely available, with companies like Tableau and IBM molding business intelligence software to fit the needs of clinicians and healthcare providers.

So while population health management may be on the minds of numerous healthcare providers, it remains to be seen how many can scale the technology barriers and start developing a PHM program that both delivers significant improvements and is built on a sound financial plan. Regardless, population health management, and all the payment models and technologies that go with it, seems to be the next iteration of US healthcare.

health tech for PHM / shutterstock  

TAGGED: population health management

Sign Up For Daily Newsletter

Be keep up! Get the latest breaking news delivered straight to your inbox.
By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.
Zach Watson August 5, 2014
Share this Article
Facebook Twitter Copy Link Print
Share
Previous Article biopharma beat innovation and imagination BioPharma Beat: Imagination Is More Important Than Innovation
Next Article rising premiums Health Insurance Premium Increases in Massachusetts

Stay Connected

1.5k Followers Like
4.5k Followers Follow
2.8k Followers Pin
136k Subscribers Subscribe

Latest News

healthy travel tips when visiting Australia
7 Essential Tips to Stay Safe and Healthy Visiting Australia
News March 29, 2023
health risks of dirty mattress
Clean Your Mattress Properly to Avoid Common Health Issues
Health March 29, 2023
eligble for NDIS?
Are You Eligible For NDIS? How To Apply
News March 29, 2023
upgrade to your nursing career
4 Pertinent Ways to Upgrade Your Nursing Career
Nursing March 29, 2023

You Might also Like

hipaa-compliant answering services
Policy & Law

5 Benefits Of HIPAA-Compliant Answering Services

March 28, 2023
blockchain in healthcare for the NHS
Technology

How Blockchain Can Help the National Health Service

March 27, 2023
virtual reality in optometry
Technology

Virtual Reality Visual Field Test Device in Healthcare

March 22, 2023
valueable healthcare programs
News

5 Most Valuable Healthcare Programs in 2023

March 8, 2023
//

We influence million of users and is the most authentic source of information on healthcare business and technology news.

Quick Links

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Subscribe

Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!

Follow US

© 2008-2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.

Removed from reading list

Undo
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?