“Today, the job of running a city is the job of creating a healthy city. The most important step is managing health-related issues and costs for city employees. Healthy employees have to be a priority so that in turn, they can provide the best possible service to citizens,” said Larry Morrissey, Marathon Health’s vice president of government affairs and former mayor of Rockford, Illinois. “When local government commits to proactive, clinical interventions for its employees, costs go down and health improves. Everyone wins.”
TIP 3: Big issues – like homelessness – are possible to manage if you make them personal
Rockford Ill, became the first community in the nation to reach the “Functional Zero” definition of ending Veteran homelessness. Step one in reaching this goal was to take a population health management approach to the problem, which meant identifying every homeless veteran by name. Case managers, social workers, and other partners then met monthly as a team in HIPPA compliant meetings to share details on outreach and develop solutions to address the specific needs for each homeless veteran. Providing customized support for each individual with tailored outreach has led to life-changing improvements for these veterans.
