The Power Of Population Health Management To Reduce Costs & Improve Outcomes

Healthcare reform in the United States has changed, and continues to change, the way many providers do business. In the fee-for-service age, physician compensation simply boiled down to patient encounters — regardless of the quality of the interaction or care provided. Indeed, even if a surgeon did a suboptimal job in the operating room, causing a preventable complication (a prolonged hospital stay or even a second urgent surgery), the surgeon and hospital were paid for that additional care.

Of course, we know that this reimbursement model has changed with recent healthcare reform legislation. There are two main drivers to reform. First, research shows that the current healthcare spending curve simply isn’t sustainable. Second, and related to those rising costs, is the startling notion that despite those high costs, the resulting quality of care is not equally as high.