The healthcare quality profession plays a critical role in population health at many levels. As data steward, healthcare quality professionals analyze population health data to stratify and predict risk. In looking at trends and outcomes associated with a group of individuals (age, race, sex, diagnosis) and their determinants of health (e.g., medical care, genetics, social, environmental and economic factors, and individual behavior and lifestyle), we make important contributions to health systems and society. As process improvement experts, healthcare quality professionals identify instances of process and performance failures and then trace and remove failure causes to improve processes of care. Healthcare quality professionals design transitions across the continuum of care to optimize handoffs and facilitate communication and teamwork among patients, families, and frontline caregivers. As healthcare quality professionals, we are partnering more and more with various interprofessional providers and payers to maintain and improve the health and wellness of all populations especially those at risk for health problems and chronic conditions. Our profession's value-based approaches enable coordination and bridging across caregivers and levels of care to engage organizations, services, and consumers for purposes of ensuring the efficient, effective, and safe and quality care of populations.

NAHQ is dedicated to advancing the profession of healthcare quality and as such has committed to this topic of Population Health, which will be shared in these formats: this JHQ special issue, the National Quality Summit (May 11-12, 2016, Dallas, TX), HQP Career Profiles (NAHQ Career Center), and through ongoing educational content provided through our Q Essentials Learning Labs on Population Health (http://www.nahq.org).