PUBPOL 5283

Population Health for Executives

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2023-2024.

Population health focuses on the health and well being of entire populations. Populations may be geographically defined, such as neighborhoods or counties; may be based on groups of individuals who share common characteristics such as disease status, socioeconomic status, or race-ethnicity; or may be made of patients attributed to accountable health care organizations using a variety of methods. With roots in epidemiology, public health, and demography, key tools of population health management include risk stratification, chronic care management, identifying "upstream" social determinants of health, improving health equity, and cross-sector collaboration to improve prevention and wellness. Given the shifting health care environment – from fee-for-service to value-based care – health care managers who are able to apply tools to measure, analyze, evaluate and improve the health of populations (and achieve the Triple Aim) will be well-positioned to achieve value as the field continues to evolve.

When Offered Summer.

Permission Note Enrollment limited to: EMHA students.

• Describe basic demographic and health trends, including leading causes of death and morbidity, and understand their contribution to health care delivery and utilization.
• Calculate and use for decision-making, relevant health metrics including but not limited to incidence, prevalence, quality of life, functional status/disability, wellbeing, life expectancy, healthy life expectancy, morbidity and mortality, and health behaviors.
• Leverage descriptive social epidemiology, statistical tools, and demographic models to assess population health, identify health disparities, determine intervention points, and recommend effective program and policy decisions.
• Recommend key population health management practices (i.e., hot spotting, care coordination, chronic care management, patient engagement, cross-sector collaboration, risk sharing), key population health delivery models (e.g., medical homes), and payment structures (e.g., capitation), to achieve the Triple Aim.
• Identify and measure the social determinants of health and health inequities within and across populations and understand the importance of cultural competence in achieving health equity.

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