Population health management and its relevance to community nurses

Local services can provide better and more joined-up care for patients when different organisations work collaboratively in an integrated system. Population health management (PHM) provides the shared data about local people's current and future health and wellbeing needs. Joint care planning and support addresses both the psychological and physical needs of an individual recognising the huge overlap between mental and physical wellbeing. Joint posts and joint organisational development are likely to become more commonplace and community nurses will have a vital contribution to planning and delivery of integrated care to improve health and care outcomes for their local populations.