As health systems increasingly work to take on responsibility for the health of a population, leaders must determine how to allocate resources to programs which have the most impact on the population’s health. While a community health needs assessment helps identify the most significant health problems, the specific programs that will best improve these health issues may be more difficult to select.
This doesn’t have to be the case, said Ann Scheck McAlearney, ScD, professor of family medicine and vice chair of research at the Ohio State University, in a session at the American College of Healthcare Executives' 57th Congress on Healthcare Leadership. Dr. McAlearney discussed a number of resources available on the effectiveness of various population, public and community health interventions – including “The Guide to Community Preventive Services”- to select the best intervention for your population, given the health system and community’s resources.
Dr. McAlearney encouraged leaders to use “data to select among the programs.” Leaders should first consult effectiveness data to narrow down potential interventions. Then, they must consider their desired outcomes and current resources to select among those interventions. For example, if a health system’s CHNA identified diabetes, particularly among the African American population, as a heath concern, the health system might consider the following interventions: partner with local church on a diabetes education program, contract with a commercial payer to gain funding to hire a diabetes care coordinator, develop a volunteer-based diabetes health educator program.
Which of the three would provide the best ROI (lowest cost, biggest reduction in diabetes and related costs)?
To find the answer, Dr. McAlearney encouraged leaders to ask the following six questions to evaluate potential interventions:
1. What do we want to accomplish?
2. Who is your target audience?
3. What do the data tell us about effective interventions?
4. What outcomes do we want to measure?
5. What data do we need to gather?
6. What audience will view the results?
Using these questions and data as a guide, healthcare leaders can make better decisions when it comes to allocating resources to population health interventions.