This interactive session is designed for professionals working in various aspects of health care who wish to improve their knowledge and understanding of the components of population health as it relates to health reform, and its application in real-world settings.

Quality improvement, care coordination, and prevention and wellness are among the key cornerstones of the health reform legislation. Reforming health care requires rethinking the way chronic illness is managed. It requires us to break out of our provider-centric and disease-focused silos to take a whole-person approach to care management.

The preparatory readings and preconference workshop session will provide participants with an overview of population health and health reform - including the principles of care coordination, changing models of care for chronic illness prevention and chronic care management; and the value of patient engagement.

A 2011 New Yorker article by Dr. Atul Gawande ("Hot Spotters: Can We Lower Medical Costs by Giving the Neediest Patients Better Care?") has popularized the terms "hot spotting" and "super utilizer" throughout the medical community. This special preconference session is designed for clinicians interested in learning more about these concepts; those starting a new project; and seasoned veterans with experience building projects for this population.

This session will discuss the following topics: using data to plan projects and galvanize stakeholders; finding, screening, and triaging patients appropriate for an intervention; hiring, training, and supervising staff; building and scaling projects; and engaging community-wide partners.

This program is designed to connect clinical leaders who are developing a new field within medicine that focuses on a special population with complex medical and social needs. Leading a super-utilizer project requires a unique mix of skills: administrative, data analysis, leadership, and clinical and a supportive network of like-minded colleagues.