A Population Health focus is coming to AADE18 – What’s in it for me?
Joan Olveda, RN, BSN, CDE; Shelley Taylor, BSN, RN, CDE; Kellie Rodriguez, MSN, MBA, CDE
So you may be thinking ‘What does population health have to do with me?’ or ‘Isn’t population health only relevant for educators working in large health systems?’ Well, the moment a diabetes educator has a population of people that they are caring for in their healthcare environment, in a smaller practice or a larger health system, population health matters. Most importantly, the framework for population health explores different models of care delivery, creating enormous opportunities for diabetes educators to demonstrate their true value.
The shift from fee-for-service and traditional reimbursement models to population health and value-based care is changing healthcare delivery dramatically. Population health looks at the outcomes of a group of individuals and includes the distribution of such outcomes within the group. With this transition in healthcare delivery, diabetes educators can define their value and roles in diabetes care, beyond the provision of traditional DSMES, supporting national dialogue about the appropriateness of the title ‘diabetes educator’. Population health provides a robust framework to cement our true value and contributions in care delivery and the time for educator action is now!
Throughout the population health track at AADE18, you will learn:
- The definition of population health
- Risk stratification or care prioritization approaches for effective population health management
- The role and use of technology for effective communication and decision support
- Patient engagement strategies
- Unique intervention approaches for defined populations
- Workforce training and leveraging
- Payment models
- Population health outcome measures and sources
In all sessions, the role and opportunities of the diabetes educator will be clearly defined.
During AADE18, diabetes educators will have an ability to hear from a variety of national speakers regarding creative population health initiatives. Dr. Robert Gabbay, from Joslin Diabetes Center, will provide a motivating general session on Friday August 17th on the role of the diabetes educator in a value-based payment model.
Other speakers will discuss population health initiatives from the health system, employer and patient perspectives and will address some of the most difficult impacts on populations including the social determinants of health and disaster response and recovery. Unique intervention strategies will be discussed including mobile services, medication reconciliation approaches and diabetes boot camps. The importance of creativity, collaboration and strategic partnerships will be outlined across presentations. Whether you are new to the concept of population health or more deeply involved, AADE18 will have something for everyone.
Be sure to attend any number of population health sessions– trust us, both you and your organization will be so glad you did!
See you at AADE18!
