Monday, January 19, 2015

Risk Stratification and the Healthcare Industry

Risk stratification assessment is the process of grouping patient populations into high-risk, low-risk, and rising-risk groups. Possessing the right risk stratification tool to classify patients according to risk is critical to the success of any proactive health management initiative. Moreover, the management of population health and risk stratification are essential as Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and other value-based care delivery models become mainstays within the industry. Proactive health management is critical for organizations seeking to improve outcomes and lower the overall cost of care, especially for high-risk, high-cost patients. A risk stratification tool can help identify these high-risk patients so that their health can be carefully managed and interventions can be applied early.

Methods and Goals of Risk Stratification


HCCs or Hierarchical Condition Categories play a vital role in risk stratification where the goals are to predict a patient’s health risks, prioritize interventions, and alleviate adverse outcomes. The ACG or Adjusted Clinical Groups model is other approach that classifies patients into one of 93 categories based on both inpatient and outpatient diagnoses. In assessing risk under both schemes, it is essential to use multiple comorbidities to predict risk more accurately. 


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