Population health management: Challenges and opportunities for pharmacy

Few would argue that the train has left the station in terms of population health management being a more favorable approach than the “sick care” system that has dominated in the United States. Despite a lack of consensus regarding basics, including a unified definition of population health management, the dialogue around population health management continues to build momentum in the United States in a variety of ways. This is evidenced by initiatives at the local, state, and national levels that attempt to strengthen our commitment and focus on population health management. This theme issue of AJHP can be seen as a “check-in” with our profession regarding where we have been, what we are doing, and what might be next with regard to various aspects of this massive and perhaps nebulous topic. This editorial is part of a special AJHP theme issue on population health management. Contributions to this issue were coordinated by AJHP Editorial Advisory Board member Kenneth M. Shermock, Pharm.D., Ph.D.