Population Health Management: Is There Any Role for Orthopaedics?: An AOA Critical Issues Symposium

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Orthopaedic Surgery
• Public Health

Background:

• Healthcare reform emphasizes integrated delivery systems and population health management for value and savings.
• Achieving population health goals requires legal physician-hospital collaboration, comprehensive care spectrums, and subspecialty engagement.
• Orthopaedics is often perceived as reactive, focusing on post-injury repair rather than population health.

Purpose of the Study:

• To challenge the assumption that orthopaedics is not central to population health management.
• To demonstrate the potential for orthopaedic surgeons to actively contribute to population health initiatives.
• To identify specific mechanisms through which orthopaedic subspecialties can influence patient population health outcomes.

Main Methods:

• Reviewing current healthcare reform trends and their implications for integrated care.
• Analyzing the role of subspecialties, specifically orthopaedics, in population health strategies.
• Identifying and proposing specific interventions within orthopaedics for population health improvement.

Main Results:

• Orthopaedic surgeons can influence population health through shared decision-making for elective procedures.
• Reducing premature or unnecessary imaging and subspecialty referrals is a key mechanism.
• Improving bone health via osteoporosis prevention and fall risk assessment offers significant population health benefits.
• Developing new payment models that reward population-based musculoskeletal outcomes is crucial.

Conclusions:

• Orthopaedic surgeons have a vital role to play in population health management beyond traditional reactive care.
• Implementing strategies such as shared decision-making and preventive bone health initiatives can improve population outcomes.
• Redefining payment structures to incentivize population-based musculoskeletal health is essential for successful integration into healthcare reform.