POPULATION-HEALTH CONCEPT CHALLENGES DOMINANCE OF CLINICAL MEDICINE

As the emerging policy concept of population health challenges the dominance of clinical medicine in health care, many question how it will affect ''grass-roots'' physicians. Although primarily a planning tool for policymakers that provides a framework to study the determinants of health, health outcomes and health interventions, population health can also be applied to medical practice. The CMA identified population health as a priority issue in March 1994, and has sponsored several presentations and workshops on the issue. On Jan. 23 three CMA Councils will meet jointly to discuss the implications this new policy holds for physicians.