Population Health Management (PHM) is something everyone working in healthcare should be aware of. Its principles and techniques are driving significant improvements in a system under pressure. But what does the term mean to someone unfamiliar with the complex world of analytics? Health Economics Unit Senior Business Consultant Phil Bucknall shares his journey from amateur to advocate…

“What’s PHM?” Is exactly what I asked when I joined the Health Economics Unit as a business consultant just under two and a half years ago. I had come from a 20-year career selling orthopaedic implants and more recently a stint in Supply chain, again, with orthopaedic products. I had no idea what this PHM thing was, and yet here I was being asked to organise 20+ sessions for our team to deliver this mysterious “thing” to our Midlands Decision Support Network as part of their wider educational programme.

Obviously, I know what PHM stands for now and with my background in med tech and a degree in chemistry anything fact and data led appeals to me immensely. Over the intervening years I have attended many sessions where our training has been delivered from Analyst support to ICS’s setting up their own PHM functions. In fact – as a unit we have trained over six hundred individuals from all over the UK in the principles and techniques of pop health.

Over this time my interest in PHM has grown as well. I’ve gone from seeing healthcare as hospital-based to realising there is so much more that contributes to our wellbeing; both physical and mental and not all of it is related to care given out by GP’s or secondary care.

From my first-hand involvement in delivering an allocative efficiency programme across the west midlands I saw the importance of a joined-up approach and the benefits that can be gained from involving EVERYONE in the care pathway and not just medics. I saw patients take control of their care and care givers seeing things from a different perspective for the first time. It was like a visible switch had been thrown and it was exhilarating!

It was like a bonus level in a game had been unlocked in participants’ minds and you could see them going through all the new possibilities of how they could deliver not just first class but impactful care to the right people when they needed it. They were thinking of ways to ask questions differently and analysts were empowered to question the umpteenth request for “another dashboard please”; the conversations flowed freely and easily and the collaborative working was evident, and it was infectious. The change was visible in all those who took part.

Since then I have become even more involved in our PHM training at the HEU as I have delved deeper into how it works, to the point that I am delighted to be delivering some of the overview sessions myself. I truly believe that we can effect real change in the systems we work in, and the communities we serve, by embracing a more holistic PHM based approach to healthcare; reducing over-medicalisation and the dependence on hospital care as the gold standard. Let’s give power back to the people!

This segues beautifully into the work we are doing in Ireland with the HSE where we are delighted to be working in conjunction with the Health Service Executive, specifically the Mid-west Region, in a first for Ireland; a bespoke pilot PHM training programme to help educate staff on the importance of PHM in the ever-changing healthcare landscape. A landscape where more importance is being focussed on prevention rather than cure, and the better utilisation of resources to maximise the limited resources available to help more of the population.

My hope is that mine and my colleague’s enthusiasm for this area will help encourage these teams to realise the good they can do and the difference they can make by adopting this approach.

The course has been tailor made for the Irish system and draws on examples provided by the region to further enhance the learning opportunities and encourage engagement by making it relevant to attendees. Consisting of four overview sessions and two technical sessions; we aim to foster a spirit of better decision making within the Mid-west region when it comes to PHM, and to ask the questions that might not have been asked previously, to drive better healthcare across the whole population using data and expert judgment at the heart of every decision or initiative.

We will also leave the PHM team with the tools and learning to continue to apply what they have learned, and to pass that learning on to other interested colleagues thanks to the comprehensive library of resources and recordings of the live sessions, continuing to help their communities and others as more people take the courses.

So, if an old medical devices salesman can learn new tricks then surely we all can?

Now is the time as the cost of living shows no sign of reducing and governments demand more from their departments, we need to do more with what we have and ensure we don’t leave people behind. How do we do that best…well, I hope that might’ve become clear by now! With PHM of course.