Integrated Care and Population Health Management; two sides of the same coin?

Population health management has emerged as a new buzz word to drive system reform but does it add anything to our understanding or is it just integrated care rejigged?The predecessor of IFIC (International Foundation for Integrated Care) was founded in 2000, and since that date the network advocating for Integrated Care (IC) has grown to a global movement for change. In recent years, the concept of Population Health Management (PHM) has come up using similar terminology and aspiring well-known outcomes. As both concepts continue to gain traction with policy makers and practitioners, the question of similarity and difference has arisen in research and practice. Are IC and PHM just synonyms for the same underlying approach or are they fundamentally different?In a previous workshop during ICIC24 in Belfast we discussed 4 main statements: PHM is data driven, IC is not; IC focusses on service integration, PHM does not; PHM is health centered, IC is disease centered; and IC is for care professionals, PHM is for managers/executives. We concluded that a more nuanced exploration of the use of PHM and IC and their conceptual differences seems needed for the understanding of mechanisms and outcomes of the factual principles of both.In this workshop we would like to engage with researchers, practitioners, policy makers and others who have experience with PHM or IC to explore the strengths of both concepts.In this 90min. workshop we want to explore the relative strengths of PHM and IC further. After a short overview of the previous discussion (5min.), we want to explore both concepts more thoroughly using an Integrative Thinking format. This cognitive process fits our main question as it allows for creation of innovative solutions or perspectives to seemingly conflicting concepts. With this format we will apply a methodology to consider the best of each, PHM and IC. Four objective statements will be selected related to ) improving outcomes/experiences of our population 2) improving care provider experiences 3) improving value (efficient use of resources) and 4) ensuring health equity. Breakout groups with then use a modified version of an Integrative Thinking approach to explore what a strictly IC model for each of the 4 objectives would look like compared to a strictly PHM approach (30 mins). Groups will then be asked to use a pro-pro comparison to explore what benefits are seen in both models and places where one has benefit over the other. (5min.). We will conclude with 5min. of feedback and 5min. closing discussion. The result of this workshop will be an overview of where IC and PHM overlap and areas where we can draw on specific strengths of one over the other. The results will be published by the workshop leaders.