Why governments care about health spending and healthcare, how they are connected to overall government spending and priorities, and why addressing social determinants of health is so important for making lasting improvements, were the subjects I covered in a presentation at George Mason’s graduate policy school in September. My goal was to provide the soon-to-be policy analysts and advisers with a framework for understanding those issues so they will be able to provide useful recommendations to their future decision making bosses. (See the slide below for the topics covered in the presentation.) Links to videos of the talk are below, along with short descriptions – I think that Part 6 is particularly good. (Embedded views of the videos are at the end.)

I’ve had discussions with policy makers and corporate executives about these issues since their organization’s value propositions increasingly require demonstrating individual and population outcomes with specific metrics. Those requirements are part of the broader rapid movement of the U.S. healthcare system towards more accountability. Consequently, the connections among health, healthcare delivery, spending, community organizations, and social determinants of health are becoming a top priority for healthcare and life science leaders in companies and government agencies as they seek to increase value for their organizations and the people they serve.

Any thoughts you have about this talk, the connections among health, healthcare, spending, and community health factors (a.k.a. social determinants of health), would be greatly appreciated. And if there are any aspects of these issues where I can be of help to you or your colleagues – or you know of organizations or audiences that would also benefit from a similar presentation – please just let me know as I’d be happy to discuss that with you.

Part 1: Introduction. Why Governments care about health and healthcare. What is health. What is healthcare. https://youtu.be/KvDVcBGOePc

Part 2: Insights into healthcare spending with a particular focus on the Medicare and Medicaid programs. https://youtu.be/6Onuae2c0Xw

Part 3: Why spending on (and budgeting for) health and healthcare programs are unlike almost all other Federal programs, and why projecting spending is so challenging. https://youtu.be/lyaAjRzD0ic

Part 4: How government and private payers are seeking greater value and better clinical outcomes from their healthcare spending, and how data and analytics are increasingly important components of developing and evaluating those initiatives. https://youtu.be/7abj14xIcMw

Part 5: Examples of value based pricing initiatives and the importance of data and analytics for managing such programs, determining “success”, and sharing savings with physicians, other providers, or patients. https://youtu.be/MeLZA5wcpG8

Part 6: How health, healthcare, and spending on government health programs (and private insurance reimbursements) connect to each other, and how social determinants of health can drive clinical and economic outcomes, i.e., how a culture of health can be so important for transforming health in a community. This Part concludes with a brief discussion of the Affordable Care Act and the future of that program and the U.S. healthcare system. https://youtu.be/66zt_Rqf9hA

Enjoy. Pass along to your colleagues and friends. And as always, constructive comments are welcome!