In times of rapid change and constrained resources, measures that are important, focused, and reliable are vital. However there is an overabundance of measures available for evaluating various aspects of population health and previous efforts to simplify existing sets to meet the needs of all decision makers have been unsuccessful. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a workshop to explore the status and uses of measures and measurement in the work of improving population health. Participants explored existing and emerging population health metric sets and characteristics of metrics necessary for stakeholder action across multiple sectors. This report summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

Contents

• The National Academies of SCIENCES • ENGINEERING • MEDICINE
• PLANNING COMMITTEE ON METRICS THAT MATTER FOR POPULATION HEALTH ACTION
• ROUNDTABLE ON POPULATION HEALTH IMPROVEMENT
• Reviewers
• Acronyms and Abbreviations
• 1. Introduction
  • ORGANIZATION OF THE SUMMARY
• 2. The Metrics Landscape
  • CONTEXT SETTING
  • RWJF CULTURE OF HEALTH
  • MULTISECTORAL METRICS
  • DISCUSSION
• 3. Using Metrics Locally
  • COUNTY HEALTH RANKINGS AND ROADMAPS
  • MOVING FROM DATA TO ACTION IN A COMMUNITY
  • MOVING FROM DATA TO ACTION IN A HEALTH SYSTEM
  • DISCUSSION
• 4. Measurement and Health Equity
  • MEASURING HEALTH DISPARITIES
  • DESCRIBING POPULATION HEALTH INEQUITIES
  • THE NATIONAL EQUITY ATLAS
• 5. World Café
  • HIGHLIGHTS FROM WORLD CAFÉ DISCUSSIONS: THOUGHTS ABOUT HELPFUL MEASURES
  • HIGHLIGHTS FROM WORLD CAFÉ DISCUSSIONS ABOUT BARRIERS
  • DISCUSSION
• 6. Reflections on the Workshop
• APPENDIXES
  • Appendix A. References
  • Appendix B. Workshop Agenda
  • Appendix C. Speaker, Moderator, and Invited Guest Biographical Sketches

Rapporteur: Joe Alper.

Suggested citation:

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2016. Metrics that matter for population health action: Workshop summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21899.