| | July 201819UTLOOK Healthcare Tech Most physician practices contract with multiple private payers along with Medicare and Medicaid. Historically, each of those payers requested different quality measures, even using different criteria for ostensibly similar measures, and offered a variety of pay-for-performance programs. The result, one patient has Payer A, measuring success one way, while another has Payer B, who will measure it differently. Clinicians must approach each patient thinking about doing their best for that person, and not about the differences in how insurers measure quality.Today, as the industry continues its shift to value-based care, clinicians continue to struggle: How do we do what's best for the patient while still getting paid for the services we provide under an outcomes-based structure that is the core of value-based care? The answer is­population health management.Defining your patient populationTo effectively manage the health of a patient population, providers must be able to define the population as is most appropriate for their practice. Possibilities include, dividing patients into groups by payer, geographic area, or, perhaps, people with a specific condition.No matter how providers define their populations, electronic health records (EHRs) and population health tools must be able to help them identify members of the population and turn the available data into information clinicians can use to direct care while continuing to refine the data over time. The information needs to be presented in an efficient manner to help address two essential questions from clinicians:1) What to do for the patient who's in front of me?Every office visit is an opportunity to deliver more complete care for patients. However, when primary care physicians are going from patient to patient, seeing them for an unrelated condition, it's easy to miss chances to ensure that patients are current with By Dr. Michael Blackman, Medical Director, Strategic Initiatives, AllscriptsCXO INSIGHTSWhat's Best for the Patient?To effectively manage the health of a patient population, providers must define the population as is most appropriate for their practiceDr. Michael Blackman
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