Allina Health: Bringing population health strategies to oncology

[American Journal of Managed Care, October 14, 2022] Three years ago, Allina Health, a not-for-profit health system that operates 10 hospitals and more than 90 clinics in Minnesota and western Wisconsin, decided to invest in cancer care with a population health focus. Doing so required Allina to "remap the patient experience” in cancer care, according to Mike Koroscik, vice president, Oncology, Allina Health Cancer Institute (AHCI).

On Friday, Koroscik offered an update on how that process has evolved for AHCI, which launched in October 2021. Koroscik presented “Preparing for Population Health in Oncology,” during the Association of Community Cancer Centers 39th National Oncology Conference, which concluded in West Palm Beach, Florida.

His talk is part of the emerging consensus that improving patient experience and bringing down cancer costs calls for prevention through healthier living or catching cancer early when it is easier and less expensive to treat. The second approach requires using data and risk stratification strategies to screen patients and to rethink reimbursement, which would have to reward health systems based on a population health model, rather than only paying for testing based on individual patient risk.

Read the full story online at www.ajmc.com.