Population Health: Creating a Culture of Wellness

With over 45.7 million uninsured in the United States and health reform a national priority, the need for population health management has never been more eminent. Sixty percent of American deaths are attributable to behavioral factors, social circumstances and environmental exposures. Employment of population health management techniques advocating use of preventative services and quality clinical care are imperative. Population Health: Creating a Culture of Wellness offers an educational foundation for professionals and students on the genesis and growth of this important topic. The book is a concise overview of the topic from the perspectives of providers and businesses. It offers a population-based approach to understanding disease management, chronic care management, and health policy making it ideal for students in programs of public health, health policy, quality and patient safety, health care administration, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, social work and other related clinical professions.

David B. Nash, MD, MBA is the Founding Dean and the Dr. Raymond C. and Doris N. Grandon Professor of Health Policy at the Jefferson College of Population Health (JCPH). JCPH is dedicated to developing healthcare leaders for the future.' A board-certified internist, Dr. Nash is internationally recognized for his work in public accountability for outcomes, physician leadership development, and quality-of-care improvement.

'JoAnne Reifsnyder is an advanced practice nurse in palliative care with more than 25 years of experience in palliative and end-of-life care clinical practice, administration, consulting, education, and research. She completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in psychosocial oncology at University of Pennsylvania and holds a PhD in nursing from the University of Maryland, a Master’s Degree in nursing from Thomas Jefferson University, and a BSN from Holy Family College. She led the development of the first Masters’ program in Chronic Care Management at Jefferson School of Population Health (JSPH), Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and formerly served as Program Director. She also served as chief quality outcomes officer for excelleRx, Inc., the parent company of Hospice Pharmacia, where she led a group of researchers and clinicians in an agenda that included health services research, development of clinical decision support and QAPI tools, and dissemination of findings through publication and presentation. Dr. Reifsnyder was co-founder and partner in Ethos Consulting Group, LLC, a company focused on program development, education/training, and research/evaluation to advance end-of-life care. She has been the director of the hospice program for the Visiting Nurse Association of Greater Philadelphia and was director of Patient Services for Samaritan Hospice, located in Marlton, New Jersey. Reifsnyder codeveloped and is the coordinator of a palliative care minor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, and taught both core courses in palliative care to nursing, social work, and medical students. Dr. Reifsnyder is the President of the Board of Directors for Pennsylvania Hospice Network, and a Board Member for both the Hospice Foundation of America and the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association. She speaks frequently on topics related to palliative care program development, policy and regulatory issues, and ethics. Dr. Reifsnyder can be contacted at joanne.reifsnyder@yahoo.com.

Raymond J. Fabius, MD, FACPE is Co-Founder and Vice Chairman of HealthNEXT, a company dedicated to the development of organizational cultures of health. A global physician executive, he has served as a medical leader in academics, private practice, managed care, the health insurance industry, e-Health, informatics and the corporation-purchaser space. He most recently served as the Chief Medical Officer of Thomson Reuters and Truven Health Analytics providing thought leadership, business strategy, sales, marketing and client support as well as corporate health and wellness guidance.'

Valerie P. Pracilio is a Project Manager for quality improvement in the Jefferson School of Population Health at Thomas Jefferson University, where she is responsible for organizing efforts on various research projects that are primarily related to healthcare quality and patient safety improvement.At Thomas Jefferson University, she is currently facilitating performance improvement initiatives in each of the Jefferson University Physician ambulatory practices and serves as a member of the Jefferson Clinical Care Subcommittee. Ms. Pracilio is working to implement a smoking cessation initiative across all Jefferson University Physician (JUP) practices through funding from Pfizer Inc. and has been involved in evaluating provider participation in pay-for-performance programs.Ms. Pracilio is a graduate of the American Hospital Association (AHA) Patient Safety Leadership Fellowship. Through this experience, she worked on an initiative for postdischarge medication reconciliation at Jefferson, with the goal of advancing patient safety and improving health outcomes. Ms. Pracilio currently serves as a medication safety expert on development of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Physician Quality Reporting Initiative Measures.Ms. Pracilio’s research interests include quality and patient safety, organizational culture, teamwork and communication as well as oncology, and public health. Her research efforts have included a project focused on the capacity for colorectal cancer 'screening in Pennsylvania, which was submitted to the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee, and an initiative to improve quality at two rural hospitals in Pennsylvania through funding from State Representative Todd Eachus.Ms. Pracilio also served as managing editor and author of Governance for Health Care Providers: The Call to Leadership, which was published in 2008 by Productivity Press, NewYork, New York.Ms. Pracilio has a bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Administration from the University of Scranton and a Masters of Public Health degree from Thomas Jefferson University. Ms. Pracilio can be contacted at valerie.pracilio@jefferson.edu.