Population health

Abstract

Population health focuses on the health outcomes of a group of individuals, including the distribution of identified outcomes within a designated group. Although population health has accelerated in an era of value-based health care, the development of the concept of population health is relatively recent and is tied to innovations in chronic disease care. Measurement is critical to improving population health, and there are different and often overlapping measurement sets. Current applications of population health management in chronic disease are found in strategies that measure the health of a clinical population, tailor care, and evaluate outcomes; evidence for these strategies is evolving. Information technology plays a pivotal role in population health improvement. Future directions and areas of research for population health will involve developing consensus around measurement, identifying and developing new data sources to allow for outcomes measurement, and training the health-care workforce in competencies around population health management.