Several CCSI employees had the opportunity to attend the November 13thHealth Management Associates (HMA) conference: How New York Healthcare Providers are Making Population Health Sustainable. Perspectives on making healthcare models pay were heard from a wide variety of organizations from within New York state and across the country including – IPAs, CBO consortiums, MCOs and providers covering key strategies, programs and lessons learned. The introductory remarks focused on how the system has shifted focus from acute care to improving overall health in ways that must be integrated well before an acute care episode occurs.
Several key themes surfaced throughout the day:
–Partnerships are key
- Payors alone cannot solve the challenges, a variety of organizations must work together effectively to improve population health. One solution highlighted was a model to embed community based entities within primary care organizations.
- The system is moving from siloed organizations to collaborative systems. A key example is CBO consortiums that enable a shared vision, mission and agenda among members while providing a more effective and efficient path for partnership between the consortium members and the healthcare system.
–Metrics tracking and data are critical
- A recurring theme throughout the conference was the importance of documenting effectiveness and aligning measurement to MCO priorities including reducing costs and improving system outcomes such as ER and Inpatient visits.
- During the panel on Provider Strategies and Lessons for Success, Courtney Burke, Chief Operating and Innovation Officer, Healthcare Association of NYS suggested that too much time is being put into technology and more should be focused on data.
- Jeremy Klemanski, President and CEO, Helio Health acknowledged the importance of tracking outcomes and historical data but also highlighted that an important factor in driving growth will be to develop the ability to leverage data at the point of care.
–Sustainability
- The importance of sustainability is well-understood but it was also acknowledged that it is a challenge as many organizations and programs currently depending on grants and short-term funding.
