In a health care environment increasingly driven by value rather than volume, population health services organizations (“PHSOs”) are emerging as powerful engines for transformation. Rather than relying on individual clinicians or fragmented care teams, PHSOs centralize key population health functions such as outreach, care management, analytics and community engagement. This coordinated approach helps improve outcomes, reduce costs and advance health equity. For both health systems and payers, the value is clear: a single organizational structure that can efficiently manage resources across entire populations.
What is a PHSO?
A PHSO is a centralized operating structure, organized as a standalone entity, a distinct division or a department within a health system, that centralizes the functions required to support risk-based contracts, streamline systemwide operations, engage strategic partners and ensure care delivery is aligned with population health goals. The concept blends functions such as care coordination, education, patient engagement, chronic disease management and community linkages within a centralized model. It can be conceived much like a management services organization (“MSO”) but with a special focus on population health.
Within a health system or integrated network, a PHSO often provides back‑office support and infrastructure, including data analytics, care gap identification, predictive modeling, outreach call centers, risk stratification, workflow support, etc. Clinically, the PHSO may contribute to managing high-risk patient populations or embedding nonclinical workers (like community health workers or navigators) to bridge social needs and medical care. As health care organizations adopt value‑based contracts, a PHSO can relieve individual practices of the burden of standing up all these capabilities.
Trends Shaping PHSO Models
Several trends are driving the emergence or evolution of PHSOs.
- Accelerating shift toward value-based care: As risk-based contracts increase, health systems can no longer afford to focus solely on patients with the highest acuity. PHSOs provide an infrastructure that proactively manages population risk, gaps in care and social drivers of health.
- Data and Technology: Cloud-based analytics, AI-powered risk stratification and patient engagement platforms now allow PHSOs to identify high-risk patients, coordinate across providers and intervene earlier. Digital tools, including remote patient monitoring and mobile apps, expand the reach of PHSO teams far beyond the hospital walls, while predictive modeling helps focus resources where they can make the most impact.
- Health Equity: There is growing recognition that social determinants of health, community assets and multisector collaboration must be incorporated into population health strategies. In response, many PHSOs now incorporate community health workers, behavioral health navigators, housing partners and food access programs into their service models. The goal is not only to treat illness, but to address the circumstances that contribute to its development.
- Fragmentation in Health Care: Health care fragmentation is a well-recognized and costly challenge. PHSOs offer a structure to this complexity by integrating components of the system that have long operated in silos. By aligning providers, payers and community organizations around a shared population health strategy, PHSOs establish the foundation for meaningful collaboration, improved coordination and greater accountability across the continuum of care.
Future Outlook
PHSO models represent an evolution in how health systems organize for population health, including: 1) centralizing critical functions; 2) bridging clinical and community domains; and 3) enabling scale and consistency across practices. Their success, however, depends on making deliberate choices about scope, technology, culture, incentives and partnerships. As payment models continue to shift toward risk, and as digital tools become more sophisticated, PHSOs are poised to become a core organizing framework for modern health systems.
Practical Takeaways
- Before launching a PHSO, goals should be clearly defined. Is the focus on improving outcomes, managing risk, advancing equity or all of the above? The structure should follow the strategy.
- From data platforms to care management tools, organizations should build systems that can grow with their population health priorities and integrate seamlessly across clinical and community settings.
- Create shared ownership across the enterprise to ensure providers, care teams, and operational leaders all have a stake in the PHSO’s success. Value-based care is most effective when incentives reinforce coordinated, team-based efforts.
- Explore collaborations with community organizations, social service agencies, and, when appropriate, other health systems to strengthen the PHSO’s reach and capabilities.
For more information on PHSOs, please contact:
- Joe Wolfe at (414) 721-0482 or jwolfe@hallrender.com;
- Megan Culp at (317) 429-3644 or mculp@hallrender.com;
- Jemalyn Harvey at (202) 780-2990 or jharvey@hallrender.com; or
- Your primary Hall Render contact.
Hall Render blog posts and articles are intended for informational purposes only. For ethical reasons, Hall Render attorneys cannot—outside of an attorney-client relationship—answer specific questions that would be legal advice.
