You will receive monthly Population Health Management knowledge, by means of a presentation provided by the student to your team/to the co-workers. For further (online) dissemination within your organisation, you receive a practical infographic developed by the student. You do not need to coach the student intensively during the first year.

The second year is dedicated to further specialisation in one of the four themes: data science, governance, syndemics and epidemiology. The student will apply his/her specific knowledge in your organisation through a tailormade scientific research within the framework of Population Health Management. During this year, the student works in your organisation and reports to the team-manager.

The programme is open to students with a master (or excellent bachelor) degree in medicine or a health care related field. The student will be connected to your organization through matching. You may also choose to propose a (professional) candidate yourself.

LUMC-PHM student develops several cases, that can be part of a PHM-dashboard. Proposals on content, decision rules and cut-off points will be made. Based on his medical background and based on his (fresh) PHM-expertise, the LUMC-candidate can determine the ideal combination of existing knowledge,  data at hand, the risk functions, and the necessary input for the functional design and implementation of the dashboard. During this process, the LUMC-candidate is intensively guided by the LUMC scientists.

LUMC PHM student is able to develop and implement value based care paths for specific populations, As the health care trajectory for the patient is not limited to hospital care, the PHM student extends the care paths to the whole care continuum. Next to the clinical relevance, patient experience and cost-effectiveness justify the right care in the right place and to grow at the same time, with de-compartmentalisation of care as a challenge. Thus collaboration, governance and reimbursement issues need to be resolved.  

Possible research for the LUMC-candidate: identify the amount of dermatological care needed in the population of a top clinical hospital and determine the growth strategy of the academic hospital on dermatology.

The LUMC-candidate identifies 3 possible routes:

1. Concentration and dissemination strategy; growth through specialization in complex dermatology and downscaling of low-complex dermatology to regional hospitals and the first line.
2. Care exchange with other hospitals: specialisation ophthalmology versus dermatology.
3. Growth by attracting potential dermatological care from adjacent populations.

The LUMC-candidate advises the MT on the growth strategy and, on the basis of a scientific study - supervised by LUMC scientists - advises on the following aspects:

• The dermatological demand potential within the defined population based on data;
• The financial consequences of the growth strategy;
• Medical implications;
• The best implementation strategy of the chosen route; how to organise that with the cooperation partners such as university hospital, regional hospital, general practitioner, technology company (dermatological diagnostics) and insurer;
• The implications for the participation of the medical specialist if part of his treatment is delegated to the regional hospitals or first line;
• The necessary contract with the health insurer; how to ensure that - by delegating certain care - this does not result in financial sanctions;
• The implications/benefits for the patient.

In all these steps the scientists of LUMC Campus The Hague provide guidance.

A smaller hospital has the ambition to transform into a community hospital. The goal is not to focus on the highly complex care, but on the low-complex care of the top clinical hospitals on the one hand and care that is too intensive for the general practitioner on the other. Based on a through population analyses, The LUMC-PHM student advises the hospital board on the implementation of this ambition.   Next, based on scientific evidence - supervised by LUMC scientists – an advice on the implementation to reach a sustainable regional health care infrastructure with a clear position of the community hospital is formulated.

Pharmaceutical companies are currently looking for their exact position in relation to these new regional population-based collaborations. It is essential for the pharmaceutical company to be able disseminate his information in these partnerships and to think along with the region or for specific populations  about relevant value propositions. In that light, the PHM student will  bring the latest insight . Relevant questions include: who are the decision-makers within a regional partnership? How do you get to their table? What is the best way to build a lasting bond or get the right reimbursement? How can you, actually make a positive impact in the region? The PHM student advises on the policy and implementation of activities to reach new value propositions.

GPs experience an enormous increase in consultations and pressure as first contact and gatekeeper for specialist care. Through a PHM approach a more risk stratified approach is developed for a specific population. The general approach to treat for example people with diabetes is stratified according to the risk of subpopulations, resulting in more intensive treatment for more complex cases and more preventive measures for less complex cases. This results in new applications of data through risk functions and dashboards. Next to data requirements, collaboration with partners to organise the care and prevention most efficiently is needed. The PHM student supports this shift with his knowledge and skills.

Health insurers are witnessing a strongly increasing and, in fact, irreversible trend towards value-driven care procurement and multi-year contracts. In addition, we see that multi-year contracts based on a contract price or shared savings still have unclear effects, but sometimes also undesirable consequences; e.g. the so-called 'waterbed effect'; if imaginary 'pressure' is exerted on hospital care, this will result in an increase in GP care. The solution seems to be more cohesive; purchasing on the basis of a population (e.g. elderly or youth) or on the basis of a clinical picture (cross-domain care chain). This requires care parties that are willing and able to offer this coherence. Efficiency in and governance for specific and generic populations is required. Deregulation is a major challenge in this respect. How does this game work? What is involved in such an integrated approach? How does the insurer arrive at forms of contract with the care providers for various populations? 

Assignment for the PHM student (MSc Medicine): Consider for the organisation what the care procurement, but also the insurance packages should look like on the basis of integrated population-oriented care, taking consumer needs into account. Make a proposal of the corresponding funding models.