As the move to value-based payment advances, population health programs are gaining traction with nearly half of respondents to a recent KPMG study saying they have population health platforms in place that are working.
The survey was conducted as part of a KPMG webcast on developing population health management programs and understanding the clinical and operational considerations that go with them. About 86 respondents who identified themselves as working for a payer or providers participated.
Exactly 44 percent of respondents said they have a population health platform that is "being utilized efficiently and effectively" and another 24 percent will be implementing one over the next three years, results showed.
Just 10 percent said they aren't planning to develop a population health platform, and 21 percent said their organization doesn't require one, the survey said.
Responses also laid out some of the challenges to implementing population health programs that providers and payers voiced. The biggest challenge listed is aggregating and standardizing information from multiple sources, according to 30 percent of respondents. For 10 percent of respondents each, stakeholder adoption and integrating with clinical work flows were listed as additional barriers.
"The complaints about incorporating technology into clinical workflows are fairly common and have many doctors and others involved with care delivery dissatisfied with electronic health records and other tools," said Todd Ellis, principal at KPMG. "This can be remedied by better training and incorporating clinicians into the process of selecting technology."
"All of the above" was the word from 34 percent of respondents, which included the above issues as well as enabling patient engagement; funding investments; and selecting appropriate vendors.
Survey results showed more than a third of respondents had made progress toward value-based payment. Specifically, 36 percent said "some" of their revenue comes from value-based payments, while 14 percent said the majority is generated from VBP. Another 26 percent said they are planning to implement value-based payment arrangements sometime in the next three years.
Twitter: @BethJSanborn
Helpful advice for planning to purchase a population health platform:
⇒ Experts explain what to look for when choosing a population health platform
⇒ Comparison chart of 8 population health products
⇒ An in-depth look at 8 population health software programs
