Application of Segmentation Methods in Health Care Services Planning and Delivery
摘要
Segmentation is a well-known marketing technique used to identify homogenous groups of consumers to better respond to their needs and preferences. The method aligns with the concept of patient-centricity in health care and has already been applied in some contexts. This chapter provides an overview of existing applications of segmentation to improve the quality of health care services provided to individuals along the health continuum. The literature reviewed highlights applications of segmentation for population health management, risk stratification and personalized care purposes. Segmentation was either expert- or data-driven or a combination of the two. Data-driven approaches were often based on administrative data available from electronic health records and claims data, but the need to consider a more comprehensive set of health-related factors, such as social and behavioral determinants of health and patients’ experience measures was highlighted. A lack of evidence demonstrating how applications of segmentation approaches can lead to better tailoring of health services and improve the quality of care provided was noted and should be addressed in future research and applications.