A Primer on Population Health Management and Its Perioperative Application

The movement toward value-based payment models, driven by governmental policies, federal statutes, and market forces, is propelling the importance of effectively managing the health of populations to the forefront in the United States and other developed countries. However, for many anesthesiologists, population health management is a new or even foreign concept. A primer on population health management and its potential perioperative application is thus presented here. Although it certainly continues to evolve, population health management can be broadly defined as the specific policies, programs, and interventions directed at optimizing population health. The Population Health Alliance has created a particularly cogent conceptual framework and interconnected and very useful population health process model, which together identify the key components of population health and its management. Population health management provides a useful rationale for patients, providers, payers, and policymakers to move collectively away from the traditional system of individual, siloed providers to a more integrated, coordinated, team-based approach, thus creating a holistic view of the patient population. The goal of population health management is to keep the targeted patient population as healthy as possible, thus minimizing the need for costly interventions such as emergency department visits, acute hospitalizations, laboratory testing and imaging, and diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Population health management strategies are increasingly more important to leaders of health care systems as the health of populations for which they care, especially in a strong cost risk-sharing environment, must be optimized. Most population health management efforts rely on a patient-centric team approach, coordination of care, effective communication, robust outcomes data analysis, and continuous quality improvement. Anesthesiologists have an opportunity to help lead these efforts in concert with their surgical and nursing colleagues. The Triple Aim of Healthcare includes (1) improving the patient experience of care (including quality and satisfaction); (2) improving the health of populations; and (3) reducing per-capita costs of care. The Perioperative Surgical Home essentially seeks to transform perioperative care by achieving the Triple Aim, including improving the health of the surgical population. Many health care delivery systems and many clinicians (including anesthesiologists) are just beginning their population health management journeys. However, by doing so, they are preparing to navigate a much greater risk-sharing landscape, where these efforts can create greater financial stability by preventing major financial loss. Anesthesiologists can and should be leaders in this effort to add value by improving the comprehensive continuum of care of our patients.