While population health is an oft-touted solution to problems in the U.S. healthcare system, additional guidance on exactly which activities are necessary to see gains is necessary, according to a Journal of the American Medical Association viewpoint.
To meet demands of geographically-defined populations, which may often be separate from healthcare-defined (by insurance, care delivery system or practice) populations, healthcare systems are obligated to shoulder responsibility for population health, partner with community entities with health-related influence and make progress toward equity and value in care, according to the article. The main barriers to success within each of these obligations include:
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- Populations: Poor information integration and data sharing as well as privacy and security concerns undermine communication and service integration.
- Partnerships: Finding financing for population health-enhancing community partnerships is difficult and not well-studied.
- Equity: Efforts to address disparities in care are fraught with political implications and improper attribution of risk.
The article notes value-based care is not part of the natural evolution of the United States healthcare system and will therefore be very difficult to achieve. Clarifying the role of hospitals in the creation of population health has the potential to ease this process, according to the article.
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