Trending in 2015: Population Health.

It has been many years, but it seems like only yesterday that a small band of colleagues and I were greeted with puzzled looks when we addressed audiences about "population health." Twenty years ago, even population health pioneers did not agree on a definition of the term, and beginning to reform our deplorably unintegrated and financially misaligned healthcare system was only a pipe dream.With the passage of key legislation promoting health information technology (HIT) and subsequent implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA)-particularly its call for us to aggressively pursue population health-the stars began to align. My colleagues and I welcomed the ACA's endorsement of patient-centered medical homes and the introduction of accountable care organizations, both of which promote concepts that are essential to population health: multidisciplinary team approaches to better coordinate care in practices and among providers; affiliations and collective agreements among healthcare providers to be accountable for the health of defined populations; and care that is focused on engaging patients, preventing illness, and providing better quality. Even at this early stage, healthcare reform has triggered initiatives across the spectrum and, in doing so, has brought population health into the public consciousness.If this was the first article I read about population health, I would ask myself, "Where's the evidence?" Based on my penchant for keeping up with the relevant literature and my frequent interactions with health professional organizations, health systems, academic institutions, and healthcare technology innovators, below are a few reasons for my optimism.THE EMERGING CHIEF POPULATION HEALTH OFFICERPerhaps the strongest signal comes from my colleague, Rita Numerof, PhD, whose work has revealed the emergence of a new senior executive in the healthcare delivery system: chief population health officer (CPHO). On closer inspection, we find that this is not a new position but rather the result of a gradual evolution from the hospital-based medical director to the vice president for medical affairs to the CPHO.What does it take to be a CPHO? Job descriptions from executive recruiters and my colleagues at academic institutions and healthcare systems cross my desk regularly. Although the role is still being defined, every CPHO must be a strong leader and team builder who understands the process of organizational change and possesses the skills necessary for establishing external relationships and maintaining credibility with payers and community partners. A grasp of healthcare reform, integration strategy, and value-based care would be a plus. Typically, CPHOs are physicians (doctors of medicine or doctors of osteopathic medicine) with other advanced degrees (e.g., master of business administration, master of public health) and some experience in public health, large physician practices, team-based care, or a combination of the preceding. CPHOs generally report to the chief executive officer and are responsible for overall strategic direction and coordination of population health and care management.Population health has begun to appear in the titles of noted healthcare leaders across the country (e.g., Timothy Ferris, MD, at Partners Healthcare in Boston; Marc Gourevitch, MD, at New York University; and Kenneth Kizer, MD, at the University of California, Davis). Some experts predict that the CPHO will be the fastest-growing C-suite position in the foreseeable future. I realize that I am going out on a limb here, but I predict that every major national healthcare system will have one by 2018. This will happen, in part, because of the recent announcement by the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2015) that changes to Medicare funding will be accelerated.THE DEVELOPING SCHOLARSHIP OF POPULATION HEALTHA measure of any healthcare field's value and credibility is the quantity and quality of its educational offerings and published research. …