The Indiana State Department of Health in collaboration with the Indiana Hospital Association and the IU Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health’s Center for Health Policy held a Population Health Summit in late May. With the goal of improving health information sharing and identifying shared population health priorities, the summit focused primarily on the technology and exchange of health information. Committed to improving population health and transforming how care services are delivered, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s State Health Value and Strategies Program supported the event.
The summit began with a welcome from Indiana State Health Commissioner Jerome Adams, MD, MPH, followed by a series of panel discussions led by Health Policy & Management faculty Nir Menachemi, PhD, MPH, Joshua Vest, PhD, MPH, and Joan Duwve, MD, MPH. The panelists also included Paul MacLellan, CEO of Medical Advantage Group; Emily Webber, MD of the Indiana University School of Medicine; Waldo A. Mikels-Carrasco, Director of Population Health Research and Development at MHIN; and Drew Richardson, Director of Population Health at the Indiana Health Information Exchange.
Not only did the summit provide an in-depth look at the growing importance and benefits of a population health perspective, but it also allowed attendees to identify, refine, and select a course for actionable solutions. Small and large groups convened to discuss the priority areas in which to work collaboratively for improved population health and to identify methods for better leveraging the state’s health information technology resources. The health summit proved to be a successful event for fostering common understanding and developing a consensus around population health. Dr. Vest said the summit “served to point a diverse group of stakeholders and organizations in a common direction for better population health.”
The work of the summit will be continued by a steering committee with representation from the Indiana State Department of Health, the Indiana Hospital Association, and the IU Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health’s Center for Health Policy.