You're probably hearing the term more and more, but what is population health management, really? A true definition of population health management includes collecting and analyzing data on segments of your patient population and managing specific diseases within that population. But these activities are only part of it. Population health management requires both analysis and action. It's a comprehensive approach to uncovering gaps in care, filling those gaps - for the benefits of your patients and your practice - improving outcomes, aligning physicians, coordinating care, and optimizing efficiency and revenue.

A number of expensive population health management "solutions" are little more than sophisticated data gathering systems. But to truly improve population health, health care organizations need more than just access to data; they need the tools and capacity to track, manage, and submit that data, and to easily take action on the basis of it - notifying patients, making appointments, following up with patients, making referrals, securely sharing patient information with relevant health care professionals and organizations, quantifying the cost of care, doing quality reporting, and so on.