THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MANAGED CARE ® VOL. 22, NO. 12 827 COMMENTARY I ncorporating Meaningful Use (MU) into the Medicare Ac- cess & CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) of 2015’s Quality Payment Program signals that healthcare organizations are expected to use health information technology (IT) to improve care. One focus of these improvements is population health, which requires managing the risks, outcomes, utilization, and health of entire groups of individuals. For example, both of the Quality Payment Program’s pathways—the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and Alternative Payment Models (APM)— include population health in calculating payments. MIPS requires population health quality measures and population health–based clinical practice-improvement activities. 1,2 APMs promote organi- zational accountability beyond the individual patient encounter and are expected to reduce utilization through improved health. The changes wrought by MACRA are just one indication that population health increasingly matters. The CMS Hospital Readmis- sion Reduction Program penalizes hospitals for excess readmission rates. 3 Nonproit hospitals and health systems now must assess and adopt strategies to address community health needs to retain their tax exempt status. 4 Moreover, inluential projects like the “Culture of Health” initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and “Health in All Policies”—which is promoted by numerous public health entities— foster an environment that emphasizes population health over the provision of medical care alone. 5,6 The decades-long transition from a paper- to a technology-based information infrastructure in the United States has always been recognized as an initial step, laying a foundation for fundamental care delivery changes. Nonetheless, current health IT systems are not ready to support population health improvements efectively and eiciently. Existing health IT systems were designed for or- ganizations that are structurally, operationally, and culturally fo- cused on individual care delivery rather than improving health for groups of people. 7 For example, electronic health records (EHRs)— primarily designed as clinical documentation tools—often lack sophisticated risk stratiication and targeted case-management functionalities. 8 Even when possible, healthcare organizations Getting From Here to There: Health IT Needs for Population Health Joshua R. Vest, PhD, MPH; Christopher A. Harle, PhD; Titus Schleyer, DMD, PhD; Brian E. Dixon, MPA, PhD, FHIMSS; Shaun J. Grannis, MD, MS, FAAFP, FACMI; Paul K. Halverson, DrPH, FACHE; and Nir Menachemi, PhD, MPH ABSTRACT The United States’ decade-long transition from a paper- to technology-based information infrastructure has always been recognized as an initial step—a laying of the foundation—for future changes to the delivery of care. An increasingly important focal area for improvement is population health. Numerous policies and programs now require healthcare organizations to manage the risks, outcomes, utilization, and health of entire groups of individuals. Nonetheless, current health information technology (IT) systems are not ready to support population health improvements effectively and efficiently. Existing health IT systems were designed for organizations that are structurally, operationally, and culturally focused on individual care delivery, rather than improving health for a population. Opportunities exist to align health IT resources and population health management strategies to fill the gaps among technological capabilities, use and the emerging demands of population health. To realize this alignment, healthcare leaders must think differently about the types of data their organizations need, the types of partners with whom they share information, and how they can leverage new information and partnerships for evidence-based action. Am J Manag Care. 2016;22(12):827-829