Table 2 Synergy 2 – Applying a population perspective to clinical practice
Intervention | Key features |
|---|---|
A. Use and share population-based information to enhance clinical decision-making | 1. Population-based information includes data about prevalent health problems, health risks within the community, and preventive services for particular patient groups |
2. Collaboration can bring together governmental PH agencies, medical societies, and academic institutions to address topical issues of importance to all sectors (E.g. communicable diseases) | |
3. Healthcare practices can utilize interventions involving population-based information to determine health resource availability in particular geographic regions | |
B. Use population-based strategies to “funnel” patients to medical care | 1. Population-based strategies include community-wide screening, case finding, and outreach programs |
2. Collaboration partners can strengthen the traditional “screen and treat” strategy in two ways: by improving the effectiveness of the screening process itself, and by assuring that all individuals identified as having problems on screening tests receive appropriate follow-up care | |
C. Use population-based analytic tools to enhance practice management | 1. Analytic tools include clinical epidemiology, risk assessment, cost-effectiveness analysis, and performance measurement/evaluation |
2. These analytic tools can support medical sector organizational planning through use of information about population health status, risks and service needs (therefore can inform decisions about practice site locations, service provision at each site, practice staffing patterns, need for patient education programs etc.) |