PHM and IC: two sides of the same coin?

The predecessor of IFIC was founded in 2000, and since that date the network advocating for Integrated Care has grown to a global movement for change. In recent years the concept of Population Health Management has come up using similar terminology and aspiring to well-known outcomes. As both concepts continue to gain traction with policy makers and practitioners, the question of similarity and difference have come up in research and practice. Are integrated care and PHM just synonyms for the same underlying approach, or are they fundamentally different? For both terms, the description is not 100% clear; there are several theoretical definitions and frameworks for both. We do not really know how to define and operationalize either. And thus, we don’t know what the commonalities and differences are between the concepts. But does this have consequences? Are we truly implementing integrated care, are we really serving the priority populations?

In this workshop we want to explore the commonalities and differences of PHM and IC. After a short overview of the two terms by experienced advocates for Integrated Care and Population Health Management, we will explore the concepts more thoroughly using an Oxford Debate format. This involves short opposing statements to argue either for integrated care or for PHM. The participants of the workshop will then be invited to choose which arguments are more convincing and join in the discussion in short rounds of 10 minutes in small groups. At the end of the workshop the participants are going to rank the discussed aspects of PHM and IC on a scale of commonality to difference.

The results will be published by the workshop leaders.