Hospitals in pursuit of excellence

Trends in Hospital-based Population Health Infrastructure

Results from an Association for Community Health Improvement and American Hospital Association Survey

Many factors, most notably the Affordable Care Act, are driving hospitals and care systems to expand their scope to focus on population health management. This change requires hospitals to realign their organizational infrastructure to be congruent with a population health approach. In response to increasing interest, the American Hospital Association and the Association for Community Health Improvement conducted a national survey of hospitals’ organizational infrastructure and staffing as they pertain to population health.

Survey results detailed in this report reveal great heterogeneity in how hospitals and care systems structure and implement population health management. The findings reinforce the need for further education and professional training in population health management. This report provides insight into the field’s development and can serve as a baseline to assess the infrastructure of hospital-based population health initiatives in the future.