INTRODUCTION TO PHI INSTITUTE 

Introduction

The Population Health Impact (PHI) Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2004 to promote credible, transparent, standardized, and replicable impact evaluations of defined population health programs (e.g., wellness, health promotion, payment for provider performance, disease management, case management, medical management, etc.).

The specific goals of the PHI Institute are to:

• Promote independent, impartial, accurate, and credible evaluation of the economic and clinical outcomes of defined population health programs, using impact methods that are transparent and replicable and standardized.
• Assist employer organizations, health plans, government agencies, vendors and providers who wish to implement defined population health programs by performing credible impact evaluations.
• Advance the use of multiple scientific methodologies, and to help the market determine which evaluation approaches are most reliable for determining “best value care."
• Provide an unbiased resource for the delivery of educational, research and demonstration projects where the use of multiple methodologies, professional disciplines, and different health management programs can be tested and the results made publicly available through peer-reviewed journals, educational workshops, benchmarking studies and other publications of the PHI Institute.
• Assemble a balanced group of stakeholders (buyers, sellers, and professional evaluators) in developing generally acceptable impact evaluation standards.

Credible evaluation processes, methodologies and impact studies as proposed by the PHI Institute will make it easier for the market’s buyers and sellers to make evidence-based ROI determinations and clinical resource allocations. 

PHI Institute supports data-driven decision making, Evidence-based ROI[SM], and Evidence-based Procurement[SM] ... based upon a new kind of value in health care.

rev: 1/11/06

A New Kind of Value (beyond Value=Quality & Cost)

1) Value Outcomes (focus on: market-driven outcomes--health, functionality, productivity, cost)

2) Value Realization (focus on: credible evaluation)

3) Value Comparison (focus on: transparency of methods and results)

4) Value Optimization (focus on: Evidence-based decision making by comparing and contrasting different processes/interventions)

Value is derived when quality processes are credibly attributed,

in a transparent manner, to market-driven outcomes.

Value=(Quality Processes -> Market-Driven Outcomes) & Transparency of Methods and Results.

        In short hand:  Value= (Quality -> Outcomes) & Transparency.

Note on symbols and definitios: 

a) The arrow (->) implies a causal and temporal relationship (i.e., where the quality processes are scientifically linked to the market driven outcomes of health, functionality, productivity, and/or cost).

b) The ampersand (&) does not imply any specific mathematical relationship (e.g., additive), only a relationship that is situation specific.

c) The term "transparency" only refers to evaluation impact methods and results of such evaluations, not confidential processes, services, or products designed to optimize outcomes.

PHI Institute Scoring Services

The Population Health Impact Institute offers scoring services for defined population health management programs as a means for buyers and sellers to achieve increasing levels of Credibility in program planning, procurement, performance monitoring, and impact / outcome evaluation.

Scoring services are performed by PHI Institute at three levels: 1) Transparency, 2) Validity, and 3) Verification. Each score is more difficult to accomplish than the preceding level, and is priced accordingly. Contact PHI Institute for project assessment and pricing information.

1) Transparency is the easiest to score and is a precondition for the other two levels. Transparency is based on the PHI Institute Code of Evaluation Ethics and is simply a written pledge to: a) strive for objectivity, b) disclose potential conflicts of interests, and c) disclose study methods (in sufficient detail to enable replication).

2) Validity scores are achieved by the convening of a Delphi Panel of nationally recognized, PHI Institute approved evaluation experts. A Validity score is based on PHI Institute's Five Evaluation Principles: Data Quality, Equivalence, Statistical Quality, Causality, and Generalizability. Our panel of experts will score documents provided by a client for specific projects to assess: measurement error, differential error, non-differential error, conceptual error, and transmission error. The "Validity Pentagon [SM]" scoring template will be created to provide a graphic assessment of the degree to which the five principles have been met.

Click here for example of the PHI Institute Validity Pentagon [SM]

 

3) Verification scores are based on an empirical analysis of raw data based on Expert Quantitative Analysis following a PHI Institute evaluation process. This step involves the use of epidemiological and health services research procedures following the parameters expressed in the Validity analysis as well as situational specific parameters. A Verification Score will be used to compare results of studies based on different methods ("methods-to-methods") or different programs ("programs-to-programs"). This Verification Score completes the PHI Institute Evaluation Cycle.

 

Evaluation Options

A Transparency Score can stand on its own. A Validity Score must be preceded by a Transparency Score, and a Verification Score must be preceded by a Validity Score. In other words, each Score is dependent on completion of the one that appears before.

Private vs. Public Use

Importantly, all three scores can be performed for "Private Use" and/or "Public Use." Private scores are performed for the benefit of a specific client by PHI Institute (or its licensees), but all scores will ultimately be made public in an anonymous fashion, via PHI Insitute Industry Benchmarking services. Public Scores, decided as such by prior agreement, will be disseminated in PHI Institute Benchmarking services among similar types of named organizations (e.g. employers, government agencies, etc.).

Benefits of PHI Institute Scoring

Benefits of a PHI Institute scoring process can be realized for either private internal use and/or for public use:

•  Private Use: enhances understanding of the quality of internal evaluation processes and outcome results without "going public" (or prior to going public) with such information.

 

•  Public Use: provides enhanced assurances - for buyers and sellers - that an objective, standardized, independent and credible third party determination has been performed for either a procurement process or program evaluation.

Public Display of Scoring Results

The choice of a public scoring process, in any of the three scoring options will enable the client to display the appropriate PHI Institute service marks in public, per prior license agreement.

Notice:

    The evaluation and ethical principles, standards and measures were developed by and are owned by the Population Health Impact Institute ("PHI Institute"). The principles, standards, and measures are not to be construed as clinical guidelines and do not establish a standard of scientific-based clinical care. The PHI Institute makes no representations, warranties, or endorsement about the quality of any organization that uses or reports these principles, standards, or measures and the PHI Institute has no liability to anyone who relies on such principles, standards, and measures.

      The Population Health Impact Institute holds a copyright to these principles, standards, and measures and can rescind or alter them at  any time.  The principles, standards, and measures may not be altered by anyone other than the PHI Institute at any time.  PHI Institute retains the exclusive right for public, commercial, and benchmarking use.

      Anyone desiring to use or reproduce the principles, standards, and measures without modification for a non-commercial purpose may do so without obtaining any approval from the PHI Institute as long as attribution to the PHI Institute is clearly noted ("Used with Permission of the Population Health Impact Institute").  All commercial uses must be approved  in writing by the PHI Institute and are subject to a license at the discretion of the PHI Institute.  (c) 2005.  Population Health Impact Institute.  All Rights Reserved. 

Revised: 10-1-2006; 10-23-2005