Fundamentals of Population Health

Catalog description

Population health focuses on the health and well-being of entire populations. Populations may be geographically defined, such as neighborhoods or counties; may be based on groups of individuals who share common characteristics such as age, race-ethnicity, disease status, or socioeconomic status; or may be specific patient groups attributed to accountable healthcare organizations using a variety of methods. With roots in epidemiology, public health, and demography, key tools of population health include health measurement, risk stratification, chronic care management, identifying upstream social determinants of health, cross-sector collaboration to improve prevention and wellness, and increasing health equity. Given the shifting health care environment - from fee-for-service to value-based care - students who are able to apply tools to measure analyze, evaluate, and improve the health of populations (and achieve the Triple Aim) will be well-positioned for jobs in health care, health policy, public health, and medicine (among others) as the field continues to evolve. (HCP-EL)