Population Health
Advancing Population Health at Scale
Helping health systems move beyond reactive care toward proactive population health improvement. Health systems and care organizations worldwide face a common and pressing challenge: how to move beyond reactive care and toward proactively managing the health of entire populations.
The consequences of not making that shift are measurable — unwarranted variation in outcomes, persistent inequities, and unsustainable costs that strain even well-resourced systems. When a specific subpopulation has significantly worse outcomes, it signals a breakdown in the system — and identifies where improvement efforts must be directed.
This is where IHI comes in. IHI works with health systems, government agencies, payers, community-based organizations, and health and healthcare leaders and professionals worldwide to design and execute population health strategies that close gaps in outcomes and quality. Guided by the Quintuple Aim, IHI offers expert consulting services that empower organizations with the tools, knowledge, and capability to simultaneously achieve: better population health, better experience of care, more value for health systems, workforce well-being and equitable outcomes at scale.
Brandi Zofkie
Associate Vice President, Lung Bioengineering Inc.
Associate Vice President, Lung Bioengineering Inc.
"Creative collaborator—identifying solutions on how to accelerate and scale dissemination of information to support this effort."
Prioritizing Population Health Improvement
Helping organizations move from reactive care toward proactive, equitable, population-level improvement.
Effective population health improvement demands new care management models, a broader conception of the health care workforce, and a deliberate shift from fee-for-service delivery toward value-based care.
It also requires understanding the distinction between population health and population medicine. Population health addresses the broader social, environmental, behavioral, and systemic factors that shape outcomes across communities, while population medicine focuses on coordinating and delivering high-quality care for defined populations within the health system.
IHI population health consulting work supports organizations to:
- Improve outcomes across populations
- Address social drivers of health
- Advance coordinated, data-driven care
- Build sustainable data capability
What This Looks Like in Practice
Publications, Tools & Insights
Explore frameworks, case studies, and practical resources supporting population health improvement.
Case Studies
Tools & Frameworks
Insights & Publications
Ready to Improve Population Health Outcomes?
Contact IHI consultants for assistance in designing and implementing strategies that improve outcomes, advance equity, and optimize resources for quality care. From system-wide transformation initiatives to targeted operational improvements, IHI partners with organizations to strengthen care delivery, improve patient and workforce experiences, and build sustainable capabilities for long-term impact.
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