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Population Health Management for the Aging Population in Rush Medical Center
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University of Arizona Global Campus
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Instructor’s Name
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Population Health Management for the Aging Population in Rush Medical Center
The increase in life expectancy has projected that the aging population is living longer
with chronic diseases. Therefore, comprehending and understanding how to manage their needs
over time is an integral part of the public health system to support the well-being and
improvement of the elderly while reducing cost growth (Gottlieb et al., 2020). There is an
insurgency of technology in healthcare due to the increasingly growing demands for high-quality
optimal care and convenient healthcare services as aging populations challenge the
macroeconomics and fiscal stability of healthcare (Ansell et al., 2021). However, the aging
populations are faced with problems, such as increased expenditure on long-term care and health,
disability, the prevalence of chronic diseases, shifting disease burden, and dissaving problems
that are mostly ignored by the modern holistic approach of healthcare, which is incentivized
instead of ascertaining seamless experience of quality services to patients. For this reason, as an
administrator of Rush Medical Center, this assignment provides a proposed population health
management for the aging population. It explores explicitly, the demographics and risk factors of
the aging population, the prevalence of diabetes among this population group, identifies access
and barriers to health care and treatment options for the older adults, and proposes strategies to
improve their health and the key indicators to measure the success of the proposed population
health management.
Population, Demographics and Risk Factors that Determine Health for the Aging
Population
The aging population in Rush Medical Center is a unique and diverse group of
individuals; one-quarter of the individuals are over 75 years of age, over 30% live in high
economic hardship, and 18% live below the federal poverty level. The aging population is also
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becoming more racially and ethnically diverse, with a rise from 16 to 22 percent of African
Americans and Hispanics unable to access frequent medical services (Ermagun & Tilahun,
2020). Life expectancy inequalities persist, with whites expected to live 2.5 years longer than
Blacks or Hispanics. Moreover, older female adults are more likely to be physically inactive
compared to men. Over 80 % of aging adults are reported to have had a routine checkup annually
due to several challenges, such as the prevalence of chronic diseases, disability, and shifting
disease burden, while only 20% of the population have been assigned with a personal doctor.
45% of Chicago adults cannot afford the unexpected $400 expense (Gottlieb et al., 2020).
Overall, 9.1% of aging adults have difficulty accessing fresh fruits and vegetables due to
economic hardships (Ansell et al., 2021).
Despite this diversity, the aging population in Rush can be broadly defined and described
in terms of general demographics and risk factors, such as socioeconomic status, genetics,
behavioral and lifestyle factors, the environment they live in, and health policy. Because of these
reasons, the care of this population is complex in Rush Medical Center as it requires a great deal
of coordination and planning where the first half of life focuses on preventing illness while the
second half focuses on managing chronic conditions. This transition has implications for the
population's type and access to health services.
The Prevalent Disease or Condition among the Aging Population
One of the most prevalent diseases and conditions among the aging population in Rush
Medical Center in Chicago is diabetes. Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce
enough insulin, a hormone that helps the body use glucose, a type of sugar, as energy (González
et al., 2020). The prevalence of diabetes among the aging population is one of the primary health
concerns among the older population as it is associated with high health care costs, both in terms
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of direct and indirect health care expenditures, such as lost productivity. The prevalence of
diabetes among older adults is primarily attributable to the age itself. The primary causes of
diabetes are genetics and lifestyle, with genetics being the primary cause in people of color and
Asian populations.
Areas of Access and Barriers to Healthcare and Treatment Options for the Aging
Population
As the population ages, it becomes more critical for the healthcare system to provide
accessible care for older Americans as the healthcare costs increase. However, this is not the case
since the aging population has been largely overlooked in healthcare policy discussions, and the
local, state, and federal policies controlling this population group. For instance, there is a high
prevalence of health system corruption that has increased the cost of treatment to patients, in that
a bribe and extra informal payment is made to the official payment. Overall, this reduces the
quality of services, and worsenes health outcomes given that over 30% of the aging population
live in economic hardship level (Gottlieb et al., 2020).
Other healthcare and treatment options barriers include poor transportation services,
language barriers, health professional shortages, low income, and doctors’ lack of responsiveness
to patients’ concerns (Ermagun & Tilahun, 2020). These barriers have created a gap in the aging
population's access to healthcare and has prevented them from receiving the care they need.
Strategies to Improve the Health of the Aging Population
The Rush Medical Center is integrating an interdisciplinary sociable, and diverse
workforce, emphasizing a team-based approach with community partners and providers outside
the healthcare system (Boustani et al., 2019). The institution wants to ascertain a holistic
approach where other critical team members, such as administrators, resource navigators, health
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coaches, and researchers are involved in enhancing care and improving the social determinants
of health. It wants to provide a seamless experience by shifting from a traditional-based approach
to a modern holistic approach of prioritizing commitment and engagement of patients in care and
collaborative decision-making process. As an administrator of Rush medical center, making the
existing social systems and structures more age-friendly is another constructive way to eliminate
the mentioned barriers to healthcare. For instance, policies in the systems should be redesigned
to focus on modifying social infrastructures to meet the aging population's needs (Gottlieb et al.,
2020). There should also be complementary and supplementary support services to integrate
population and clinical health approaches that address various issues from infectious to chronic
diseases and enforce environmental regulations addressing long-term health risks, such as lack of
clean water affecting health (Ansell et al., 2021).
Creating awareness by educating the public on the issues affecting the aging population is
another important strategy. As an administrator and other respective stakeholders, calling
attention to the assets and needs of the aging population is vital for ascertaining a collaborative
approach. Through this, several development interventions through community-wide assessment
empower individuals to engage in healthy behavior and support the aging population.
Key Indicators Measuring Success of the Proposed Population Health Management
The key indicators measuring the proposed strategies for ascertaining improvement in
health services and care to the aging population include; the rate of readmissions to Rush
Medical Center, the effectiveness of care reports provided by patients, and the average treatment
charge. The readmission rate will be a key performance indicator for medical improvement for
the aging population. It will be through measuring how many patients are discharged from a
health facility and return within a specified timeframe to the health facility for additional care.
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Health care providers will use it to measure the quality of care provided to patients and by health
care regulators to determine the adequacy of health care provider practices and policies
(Boustani et al., 2019). It is also used by the healthcare industry to prioritize product
development, improve the quality of care provided to patients, and improve the efficiency of the
healthcare system. The effectiveness of care reports submitted by patients will be critical
indicators for measuring the quality of care and the impact of medical improvement on the aging
population, given that the elderly are most susceptible to adverse impacts of readmission at Rush
Medical Center. It will also determine the level of medical improvement in a population group
and thus, is an essential indicator of healthcare quality.
The average treatment charge will be used to assess the hospital efficiency, costeffectiveness of a standard aged care program, and patient satisfaction. This measure helps
determine if the proposed population health management strategies are socially acceptable
among elders and their families and whether the areas of care see overspending.
In Conclusion, the prevalence of diseases and conditions among the aging population in
the United States has become a pressing issue in healthcare since the largest segment of this
population aged 65 and older is the most demographic risk for adverse health outcomes. The
impact of aging on human health has been well documented, but the extent to which aging
affects the health of the elderly population has been a subject of debate. Thus, Rush Medical
Center in Chicago is one of the state's largest providers of healthcare services that aims to ensure
maximum patient quality services at affordable prices and eliminate racial health inequity issues.
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References
Ansell, D. A., Oliver-Hightower, D., Goodman, L. J., Lateef, O. B., & Johnson, T. J. (2021).
Health equity as a system strategy: The Rush University Medical Center
Framework. NEJM Catalyst Innovations in Care Delivery, 2(5).
Boustani, M., Yourman, L., Holden, R. J., Pang, P. S., & Solid, C. A. (2019). A profile in
population health management: The Sandra Eskenazi Center for Brain Care Innovation.
Ermagun, A., & Tilahun, N. (2020). Equity of transit accessibility across
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González, H. M., Tarraf, W., González, K. A., Fornage, M., Zeng, D., Gallo, L. C., ... &
Schneiderman, N. (2020). Diabetes, cognitive decline, and mild cognitive impairment
among diverse Hispanics/Latinos: Study of Latinos–Investigation of Neurocognitive
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Gottlieb, M., Sansom, S., Frankenberger, C., Ward, E., & Hota, B. (2020). Clinical course and
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