Population Health
HMA’s approach to providing ACOs and Community Partners with technical assistance and training in the Population Health Domain is grounded in our concrete experience implementing successful value-based payment programs in health systems and our work with organizations across the spectrum to define, understand, and prioritize the notion of risk in member populations. Our work with health systems, provider groups and health plans spans the spectrum of population health: developing and using data to understand needs and cost-drivers, evaluating performance, and creating targeted interventions in response. Developing data-driven population health processes can be complex or simple, targeted or comprehensive. We bring our clients tested tools, evidence-based best practices, and experience in a wide range of situations to support them in implementing robust and responsive risk stratification processes and related care management programs that meet their needs and impact outcomes.
We are available to provide practices support in the following areas:
- Developing data-driven risk stratification methodologies and responsive care management interventions
- Providing tools for practice-based risk stratification programs and related interventions to improve outcomes
- Training for staff and providers on risk stratification and population health
For more information, contact [email protected]
Meet Our Team
The HMA Population Management Domain Team, which is led by Lisa Whittemore, includes local and national experts with experience working with providers to design and execute training objectives.
View Our Recent Work
Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island: Risk Stratification and Transitions of Care in Accountable Care Relationships
- Project Challenge or Goals: Updating internal Population Health Management vision and programs, as it takes on a new role in supporting and collaborating with its Accountable Entity (AE) provider partners
- Project Period: 2017- present
- Project Description: HMA worked with Neighborhood to define their population in terms of risk profiles, including those they may get from actuarial algorithms (like Milliman), evidence-based tools like LACE index score, and their own claims data, along with planning for effective evaluation cycles. Prioritizing transitions of care, HMA supported Neighborhood in evaluating and using evidence-based risk algorithms to design and implement a Transitions of Care program, as part of improving care management services and improving cost and health outcomes for members being discharged from inpatient settings. HMA was involved in the analysis of the relevant claims data to help assess risk stratification thresholds and model impact to care management team operations and structure, and in defining workflows for managing members in each of the associated risk stratified levels (high, moderate, low)
- Project Achievements: Health Plan succeeded in adopting new processes for risk stratification and transitions of care to impact total cost of care
Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers Value-Based Payment Readiness Series
- Project Challenge or Goals: Build awareness and skills of community health center leaders in Massachusetts to prepare for value-based payment
- Project Period: May – October 2017, with ongoing coaching as needed for individual health centers
- Project Description: HMA designed and implemented a series of Learning Collaboratives for health center leadership and staff on strategies for success in a value-based payment environment, including innovation in population health interventions. The series engaged 35 community health center teams and up to 135 individuals for each of the four sessions. The sessions involved sharing technical information and participant engagement via adult learning methodologies and applied learning techniques. Related topics included: registry functionality and data sources for social determinants of health, processes to validate risk stratification processes for sub-populations, responsive care coordination and care management staffing and processes related to risk stratification findings and priorities, and data for performance monitoring and improvement
- Project Achievements: Evaluations from the Learning Collaborative sessions consistently gave high marks for the content and delivery of the information. Participants expressed a high degree of confidence in their ability to apply the information learned in their health centers
Business and Strategic Planning; Patient Care Intervention Center (PCIC)
- Project Challenge or Goals: Assess population health technology platform developed by PCIC and identify business opportunities and a business plan for working with ACOs or other partners
- Project Period: February 2018 – present
- Project Description: HMA leveraged our knowledge of population health programs and needs in value based-payment environments to assess PCIC’s technology and care management model which is focused on population health and social determinants of health. We focused on identifying appropriate partners
- Project Achievements: HMA assessed PCIC’s population health technology platform, provided an analysis of competitors in the market and the local and national environmental context, and is in the process of producing a strategic/business plan for advancing the mission of the organization.