Achieving the Triple Aim: A Curriculum Framework for Health Professions Education Mary A. Paterson, PhD, 1 Malika Fair, MD, MPH, 2,3 Suzanne B. Cashman, ScD, 4 Clyde Evans, PhD, 5 David Garr, MD 6 T he 2014 Clinical Prevention and Population Health Curriculum Framework in this issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine 1 is described as a resource for preparing health professionals to achieve the Triple Aim: improving the patient experience of care, reducing the per capita cost of care, and improving the health of the population. The strengths of the Framework in guiding health professions education are described and the consensus-based process that included members from major health professional organizations to develop the Framework is discussed. Links are provided to examples illustrating the Frame- work’s use in health professions educational settings. Introduction The U.S. healthcare system is changing, stimulated by dissatisfaction with poor outcomes and high costs. The Triple Aim goals—improving the patient experience of care, reducing the per capita cost of care, and improving the health of the population 2 —define the direction of change. Achieving these goals will require significant change in health professions education. There is agree- ment that future healthcare providers will need excellent clinical knowledge, solid grounding in health promotion and disease prevention, the ability to use evidence-based guidelines, and the competencies required for practice in interprofessional teams. A curriculum is required that enables health professionals to use the knowledge and skills of public health to think in terms of populations while using clinical skills, emphasize prevention while treating acute and chronic conditions, and understand the implications of health policy while dealing with its impact on current and future patients. In 2004, the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research (APTR) Healthy People Curriculum Task Force (HPCTF) created a framework for just such a curriculum: the Clinical Prevention and Population Health Curricu- lum Framework. The HPCTF, established in 2002 by the APTR, has members who represent the disciplines of allied health, allopathic and osteopathic medicine, dental medicine, pharmacy, physician assistant studies, public health, and undergraduate and advanced prac- tice nursing. a The work has focused first on defining health promotion and disease prevention and then on increasing the proportion of health professional schools that incorporate this educational content into their curricula. Since the release of the original Frame- work, a majority of the health professional schools have included Framework elements in their accreditation structure, didactic curricula, and experiential learning opportunities. b Changes in our health system nationally have resulted in updates to the HPCTF Curriculum Framework that enable health professions educators to look forward and keep pace with these system changes. The first update was completed in 2009; now, a new update is ready for use. This paper describes the 2014 Framework’s purpose: to function as a guide for strengthening the focus of health professions education and accrediting bodies on prevention and population health, essential components of the Triple Aim. From the 1 School of Nursing, Catholic University of America, Washington, District of Columbia; 2 Public Health Initiatives, Washington, District of Columbia; 3 Association of American Medical Colleges, Washington, District of Columbia; 4 Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massa- chusetts; 5 CE Consulting, Needham, Massachusetts; and the 6 Department of Family Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina Address correspondence to: Mary A. Paterson, PhD, The Catholic University of America, 600 Michigan Ave. NE, Washington DC 20064. E-mail: paterson@cua.edu. 0749-3797/$36.00 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2015.03.027 a The member organizations of the APTR HPCTF are: American Association of Colleges of Nursing, American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, American Dental Education Association, Association of American Medical Colleges, Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions, National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties, Physician Assistant Educa- tion Association. Resource organizations: Community–Campus Partner- ships for Health, Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health. b Examples of these curriculum innovations are provided on the APTR website: www.aptrweb.org/?SuccessfulPractices. 294 Am J Prev Med 2015;49(2):294–296 & 2015 American Journal of Preventive Medicine  Published by Elsevier Inc.