Most doctors agree that preventing a heart attack is much better than having one. To provide appropriate preventive and chronic care for its patients, the Loyola University Health System in the Chicago area has chosen Phytel, a provider of automated, provider-led population health improvement, to populate a patient registry with clinical data related to over 25 different health conditions.
The registry generates automated communication to patients in need of preventive or chronic care services.
Loyola is deploying Phytel in its practices and plans to roll out the solution to all 75 of its primary care physicians. The solution allows the health system to combine analysis with intervention capabilities.
By encouraging patients to seek recommended care, Loyola hopes to bring many of them in to see their physicians and improve the quality of care they receive.
"We know that some patients aren't necessarily receiving all of the care they should," commented Keith Veselik, MD, medical director for primary care, Loyola University Health System. "While we've been leveraging the data within our electronic health record to improve quality, we needed a better way to ensure that patients were engaged and on track with their care plan. We're very excited to expand our quality initiatives, while improving health outcomes."
I’m not used to thinking of populations in terms of health, but it’s an important way to measure the health of a community, or to see what trends – like diabetes or even measles – are happening, to understand the health risks and focus on health and disease prevention.
“According to Mathematica, a policy research group, PHM aims to improve population health by attacking 'the upstream causes of so much of our ill health,' including poor nutrition, physical inactivity, and substance abuse,” wrote Paul Cerrato.
One medical dictionary defines it as, "The coordination of care delivery across a population to improve clinical and financial outcomes, through disease, case, and demand management."
No matter how you define it, population health management is integral to a healthy community and can sometimes get out in front of crises waiting to happen, such as West Nile Virus, which has caused 40 deaths and 1,000 cases in Texas and has resulted in spraying to prevent the disease in other parts of the country.
Edited by
Braden Becker
