Population Health's Secret Weapon

HR doesn't have to be a bystander in the push toward population health.

The HR suite might seem like an unlikely place to define, implement, or advance population health, but its unique position as "the heart of the hospital" gives it the opportunity to kickstart the concept and move beyond buzzword status.

While most healthcare leaders acknowledge that population health is an important theme within the value-based purchasing model, there little awareness among patients, and even some clinicians.

"I don't think the general public really knows about [population health]," says Leonard Friedman, PhD, MPH, FACHE, and director of the master of the health administration program at the Milken Institute School of Public Health. He recently conducted a study which asked more than 35 healthcare leaders to define population health. The responses were extremely varied.

"We need to be able to speak a common language. If people have multiple definitions of what 'population health' means, we're talking past one another," says Friedman.

"Hospital leadership is in a very special position," to rectify that, he says.  Friedman points out the advantage hospital administrators have in helping to foster collaboration within different areas of healthcare—among social workers, community leaders, and public health officials:

1. Educate the Community
Often the largest employer in the area, a hospital can be "a beacon in its community," says Friedman. A hospital is often ground zero for major life events—it's where people go when they are ill or hurt, when a new baby is born, or for shelter and help during a natural disaster. As a result, hospitals are already integral parts of their communities.

Some have already started outreach programs with activities that include setting up booths at local festivals, sending out community newsletters, using social media, or visiting neighborhood organizations to inform them of population health-related topics such as the dangers of tobacco use, the importance of carrying health insurance, or why wearing a seatbelt matters.

Other activities include promoting programs which help families secure access to healthy foods, providing free or low-cost health screenings, or distributing literature about conditions prevalent in the community, such as obesity, addiction, cancer, and domestic violence.

2. Upgrade Care Coordination
"My mother passed away five years ago this month," says Friedman. At the time of her death, she was under the care of 10 different physicians, each handling a different component of her care. When he went to Los Angeles to be with her in her final moments, Friedman was surprised to learn that none of his mother's physicians had ever communicated with each other until right before her passing, when a dedicated hospital social worker insisted that every stakeholder involved in the woman's care gather in a room to discuss her situation. Friedman saw it as a lost opportunity for proper care coordination.

"We are in an immensely broken system," says Friedman. "People don't talk to one another, and we don't coordinate care." His mother's experience opened his eyes to the importance of care coordination and population health implementation.

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident, but one that plays out in hospitals every day. As complexity of care grows, proper coordination and management of that care is increasingly important.

One solution might lie in hiring social workers or nurses who specifically deal with care coordination and oversee patient care plans, ensuring that all clinicians involved in a patient's care stay abreast of that patient's condition. Some organizations have found it helpful to employ care coordination teams to oversee each patient's care.

3. Plan for Population Health
But Friedman believes things are moving in the right direction. He says most healthcare leaders he knows recognize that population health is here to stay.

"There's much broader recognition for need of population health and population health management than there used to be." The HR suite must recognize that population health is becoming a key part of healthcare strategy and must begin to incorporate it into the greater plans of the organization, in terms of hiring, and other hospital policies.

"Trying to do the right thing and develop workable strategies as to how public health is implemented is the next step," says Friedman. "And I think we're starting to move down that road."