Using a cost and utilization lens to evaluate and improve health care delivery
As interest in improving care management grows, it is important to establish which models of care are most effective. As described in our first article in this series on “Analytics for Population Health Management”, it has now been over ten years since the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) introduced the Triple Aim framework, which has served to ignite the realization that quality of care (done right) will not only improve patient experience, but also leads to improvements in overall population health and potential to reduce health care costs. The Triple Aim framework also served to highlight the unintended consequences of cost-cutting without an understanding of potential to put quality at risk. The IHI model represented the idea that evaluation of population health management programs and services should not simply look at cost drivers at the population level but must also take into consideration the drivers of individual level quality and outcomes. This article offers some perspective and suggestions for how to accomplish this.