Groundbreaking New Book Reveals Physician Strategies for Population Health Management and Value-Based Accountable Care

DALLAS, Nov. 13, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Value-based care is being touted by academics, industry experts and politicians as the solution to improving the overall health of Americans while helping bring the spiraling cost of care under control. Yet the new system's focus on reimbursing providers for good health outcomes only works when clinicians become proactively engaged in managing the health of their patient populations, and patients become active participants in their own care.

That is the message of the newly published book "Provider-Led Population Health Management," released today by AuthorHOUSE® and available on Amazon.com as well as at www.providerledpopulationhealth.com. Written by Richard Hodach, M.D., M.P.H, Ph.D., it is the first book to explain how providers can lead population health management (PHM) initiatives using automation to fit the effort within care teams.

"This book connects the dots for physicians embracing population health," said David B. Nash, M.D., M.B.A., founding Dean of the Jefferson School of Population Health at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, the nation's only school of population health. "It takes components of population health management, such as ACOs, PCMHs and shared savings contracts, and clearly articulates expert definitions. The book raises an important question, namely, how can we distill the lessons from leading population health organizations such as Kaiser Permanente, Geisinger and others and diffuse these lessons more broadly into the healthcare system? I believe Dr. Hodach has outlined exactly how we might tackle this challenge."

"Provider-Led Population Health Management" provides a critical roadmap to achieving success in value-based arrangements such as Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and Patient-Centered Medical Homes (PCMHs). Included are stories of how leading healthcare organizations and multi-specialty physician group practices are improving outcomes on a large scale by creating process improvements through Lean and Six Sigma principles, and then applying automation technology to make it practical for clinicians to use. The key concept behind "Provider-Led Population Health Management" is that PHM requires a high degree of automation to reach everyone in a population, engage those patients in self-care and maximize the chance they will receive the proper preventive, chronic and acute care.

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"Provider-Led Population Health Management" details the strategies used by some of the nation's leading healthcare organizations to succeed at value-based care delivery on a large scale, such as:

• Leveraging clinical information to identify care gaps and provide pre-visit planning and post-visit follow-up
• Using healthcare technology and automation to replace manual or inefficient processes
• Empowering clinicians to avoid being bogged down by tasks and enable working at the tops of their licenses through Lean quality improvement
• Enable patient engagement across a population by improving care coordination and access to primary care physicians

The book expertly explains the journey required to use PHM in a way that transforms the entire process, shifting the focus from "treating the sick" to helping patients become and remain healthier. Included is information on how organizations can use health IT to automate care management and patient engagement in order to scale and prioritize care delivery to the level required to achieve PHM. This approach not only improves the quality of care, but ensures the financial success of healthcare organizations.

Positive Reviews

Advance copies of the book have generated overwhelmingly positive reviews from prominent experts in population health management:

• "Dr. Richard Hodach's book addresses the most critical elements for providers as they transform themselves to provide population health management.  The case Richard makes for the effective use of information technology is well done and critical as we strive to move from a fragmented system of health care delivery to a fully integrated patient centered population health management system.  This book is a must-read for anyone interested in population health." – Donald W. Fisher Ph.D., AMGA President and CEO
• "While there are many books on this subject, the clarity of someone well-trained and experienced provides insight into the real, dysfunctional working of the healthcare delivery system while providing useful guidance on working within the rapidly evolving dynamic is has become." – Don Fetterolf, M.D., MBA, President, American College of Medical Quality
•  "This book is one of the best primers available on the rapidly evolving technologies that help healthcare providers manage population health. The automation of care management through information technology, as the book astutely notes, enables PCMHs to execute the manifold tasks of population health management cost effectively and without overburdening care teams. " – Paul Grundy, M.D., M.P.H., IBM's Global Director of Healthcare Transformation, President, Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative  
• "Healthcare transformation to improve health, quality, and cost (the Triple Aim) requires new payment for value, new delivery systems founded on patient centered medical homes, and new information systems to support care of populations. Dr. Hodach provides spot-on vision of how all three must work together, along with a detailed roadmap for success." – Michael K. Magill, M.D., Professor and Chairman, Family and Preventive Medicine, Executive Medical Director, University of Utah Health Plans, University of Utah School of Medicine.
• "Dr. Hodach brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in the field of population health management to this new book.  The building blocks for healthcare transformation are described in a way that guides the reader step-by-step. The term "must-read" is used frequently to describe important works, but for those healthcare leaders who are embarking on the population health path, and for those who are neck deep in the waters of transformation, this book will help you refocus your efforts and set your team on a clear path." – Jeffrey Galles, D.O., Chief Medical Officer, Utica Park Clinics
• "The key message of this timely book is that healthcare teams must adopt automation to deliver on the promise of population heath management. As my own organization has discovered, technology allows healthcare organizations to scale up quickly to prepare for value-based care. In this book are the practical strategies your organizations can embrace today." – Ashok Rai, M.D., President and CEO, Prevea Health

The Author
Richard Hodach, MD, is the author of Provider-Led Population Health Management. Dr. Hodach, Phytel's chief medical officer and vice president of Clinical Product Strategy, has long been recognized as a leader of population health management strategies. He is responsible for providing strategic direction and clinical expertise for the development of Phytel's solutions. Dr. Hodach is a regular contributor to prestigious peer-review journals such as AJMC, Journal of Population Health Management, published by the Healthcare Financial Management Association, Group Practice Journal, and more. In addition to his leadership position at Phytel, Dr. Hodach also serves on the board of directors of the American Board of Medical Quality, and will also serve as chair. Before joining Phytel, he held senior leadership positions at Matria Healthcare and Accordant, and cofounded MED.I.A. Dr. Hodach has a PhD in Pathology and an MD with board certification in neurology and electrodiagnosis, as well as a master's degree in public health.

"The opportunity before us – to deploy a population health management within a modern delivery model that can improve quality and bend the cost trend – is truly staggering," writes Steve Schelhammer, chief executive officer of Phytel in his introduction to the book. "Virtually every element of health reform, from value-based reimbursement to ACOs to the medical home, is based on the concept of managing populations of patients. This book represents the culmination of efforts to date to help move the industry towards provider-led population health management. To the extent that it does that, the book will facilitate the transition of healthcare providers to a new way of patient-centered care delivery model, grounded on population health principles, and centered around the Triple Aim."

About Phytel
The premier company empowering physician-led population health improvement, Phytel provides physicians with proven technology to deliver timely, coordinated care to their patients. Phytel's SaaS-based registry uses evidence-based chronic and preventive care protocols to identify and notify patients due for service, while tracking compliance and measuring quality and financial results. The only company to combine care management automation with an advanced patient engagement engine, Phytel has been heralded by KLAS as an "early leader" in population health management, with a "historical lead" in patient engagement capabilities. Phytel is also ISO 9001:2008 certified, confirming adherence to ISO's internationally recognized Total Quality Management (TQM) standards. For more information, please visit www.phytel.com. Follow us on Twitter and find us on Facebook.

Media Contact:
Todd Stein
Amendola Communications for Phytel
916-346-4213
[email protected]

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