Organizations and communities that attain the Triple Aim will have healthier populations, in part because of new designs that better identify problems and solutions further upstream and outside of acute health care. Patients can expect less complex and much more coordinated care and the burden of illness will decrease. Importantly, stabilizing or reducing the per capita cost of care for populations will give businesses the opportunity to be more competitive, lessen the pressure on publicly funded health care budgets, and provide communities with more flexibility to invest in activities, such as schools and the lived environment, that increase the vitality and economic wellbeing of their inhabitants.

—Institute for Healthcare Improvement (2016b)

This week, you will explain why you think the Triple Aim program is successful and, based on the initiatives, recommend two strategies you would take to improve implementation of health care quality initiatives within your organization or a health care organization in which you are familiar.

To prepare:

Review the IHI White Paper in this week’s Learning Resources titled A Guide to Measuring the Triple Aim: Population Health Experience of Care, and Per Capita Cost.

Discussion: Transitioning the Health Care System to Population Health

Congratulations! This is your final Discussion for this course! As you reflect upon all that you have learned here, take a look at the directed reflection provided below. Please respond with what you identify as future trends in health care quality management, how the shift to population health may support or hinder quality, and what you think future expectations about excellence will be from a stakeholder’s point of view. Thank you for this opportunity to share 11 weeks with you, and we wish you the best in your future endeavors.

The transformation of the health care industry is focused on quality. As the industry moves from volume-based, fee-for-service medicine to a model promoting the value of health care services, quality will be the driving force behind, a process of, and an outcome of ongoing system changes. Some initiatives include reducing avoidable re-admissions, transitioning to population health, spreading improvements, and testing and implementing new models of care and payment delivery—such as accountable care organizations and patient-centered medical homes (Bristol & Joshi, 2014).

This week you consider the factors affecting the spread of improvements. You will analyze how the shift to population health initiatives supports or hinders health care quality management and the future trends in health care. You will also assess health care stakeholders’ future expectations about excellence in health care quality.

To prepare:

Review Learning Resources as they relate to transitioning to population health.

Note: For this Discussion you are required to complete your initial post before you will be able to view and respond to your colleague’s postings. Begin by clicking on the “Post to Discussion” link and then select “Create Thread” to complete your initial post. Remember, once you click submit, you cannot delete or edit your own posts, and cannot post anonymously. Please check your post carefully before clicking
Submit!

By Day 3

Post a cohesive response to the following:

1. What have you identified as future trends in health care quality management?
2. How does the shift to population health initiatives support or hinder health care quality management?
3. What are future expectations about excellence in health care quality from a stakeholder’s point of view?