Pharmacy & Therapeutics - October 2008 - (Page 566)

EDITORIAL The Jefferson School of Health Policy and Population Health David B. Nash, MD, MBA O n July 28, 2008, the Board of Trustees approved the establishment of the Jefferson School of Health Policy and Population Health (JSHPPH) as a stand-alone entity within Thomas Jefferson University. This new school will enroll its first students by September 2009. It was the direct outgrowth of a multiyear strategic planning process that identified health policy and population health as immediate priorities crucial to Jefferson as a health care leader in the 21st century. The Department of Health Policy, including its current faculty, staff, programs, and research, will be organizationally relocated from Jefferson Medical College to form the nucleus of the new school. I will serve as the founding Dean. An advisory committee, composed of key members of the Jefferson community and chaired by Richard C. Wender, MD, Alumni Professor and Chair of the Depar tment of Family and Community Medicine of Jefferson Medical College, will serve as the primary consultative resource for the new school. The mission of the Jefferson School of Health Policy and Population Health is to prepare leaders with global vision to develop, implement, and evaluate health policies and systems that improve the health of people and thereby enhance their quality of life. The school will fulfill its mission by providing exemplary graduate academic programming, continuing education courses and conferences, and sustained research and consulting in the areas of health policy, population health, and health care quality and safety. The Master’s in Public Health (MPH) degree and certificate programs, currently offered through Jefferson’s College of Graduate Studies, will move to the new school. Over the next few years, the school will offer certificate and master’s degree programs in health policy, health care quality and safety, and chronic care management. It will also provide doctoral degree programs (PhD and DrHP) in population health and health policy. Because of their innova- tive and pioneering content, it is anticipated that these programs will help to define the future of education and research in these vital areas. WHY A SCHOOL OF HEALTH POLICY AND POPULATION HEALTH? WHY NOW? The answer is simple: the nation’s health care system is in crisis. • Chronic illness is epidemic and unmanaged, accounting for nearly 80% of all health care spending and af fecting 133 million Americans (45% of the population). • Health insurance premiums have risen by almost 90% since 2000. • Currently, 47 million Americans are uninsured and 16 million are underinsured. • Poor and minority populations have limited or no access to health care of any kind. • The aging of the U.S. population is increasing demands on all sectors of the health care system. • The Institute of Medicine estimates that almost 100,000 patients die annually in U.S. hospitals as a result of medical errors. • The failure to incorporate the latest in evidence-based practice leads to misdiagnosis or inappropriate care. • Threats of national disasters (e.g., Hurricane Katrina) and global epidemics (e.g., Avian flu, MRSA) are ever-present and can easily overwhelm local or national health care resources. Unfortunately, increased expenditure on health care has not led to increased quality, safety, affordability, or accessibility. Although the U.S. spends more per capita annually for health care (a total of $2 trillion) than any other industrialized country, it ranks at the bottom, even for the most fundamental quality indicators such as infant mor tality and life expectancy. The need to address the health care crisis in the U.S.—its quality, safety, affordability, and accessibility—is incontrovertible. It is no longer possible to prepare high-quality health care providers and educators without addressing these problems holistically from the perspective of population health and with the tools of health policy analysis. As a discipline, population health is broadly defined as health outcomes (e.g., mortality, morbidity, quality of life) and their distribution within a population; the health determinants (e.g., medical care, socioeconomic status, genetics, public health) that influence this distribution; and the policies and interventions, both social and individual, that impact these determinants. By definition, population health is holistic. It views the world as a system and looks for patterns and connections within this system. It analyzes problems—such as health care quality and safety or chronic disease—in context and looks to the patterns and pervading variables to develop the best solutions. WHY A SCHOOL OF HEALTH POLICY AND POPULATION HEALTH AT JEFFERSON? There are four compelling reasons: First, the new school helps Jefferson to fulfill its mission of education, research, clinical excellence, and community service. The size and complexity of the health care system have created a need for continued research and a demand for the preparation of health services professionals and practitioners who are trained in these areas at the graduate level. Second, it provides a means for Jefferson to achieve its vision, which is to maintain and enhance its position as a leading academic health center within the national arena and to expand its influence and contributions to the global community. Third, the resources and capabilities necessary to build a premier center in health policy and population health are already present within the Jefferson community. The Department of Health Policy continued on page 568 566 P&T® • October 2008 • Vol. 33 No. 10

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Pharmacy & Therapeutics - October 2008 Contents Editorial Medication Errors Prescription: Washington New Drugs/Drug News/ New Medical Devices Drug Forecast Medical Management of Parkinson’s Disease Why Is Health Care Regulation So Complex? The Next President’s Prescription for Action on Drugs Trends in Managing Multiple Sclerosis Product Profiler: Sancuso®

Pharmacy & Therapeutics - October 2008

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