Additionally, Medicare Advantage programs continue to grow, fueling efforts at better coordination and disease management, with hospitalists squarely in the mix. Surely, each of these will represent an experiment in the design of systems for population health management.
While it is anyone’s guess as to whether these policy initiatives will have a major impact on cost containment while maintaining quality and access, it is hard to imagine the brave new world without a retooled hospitalist model that plays an integral role in population health.
Win Whitcomb, MD, MHM is medical director of healthcare quality at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Mass. He is a co-founder and past president of SHM. Email him at [email protected].