How Modeling Can Inform Strategies to Improve Population Health

In April 2015, the Institute of Medicine convened a workshop to explore the potential uses of simulation and other types of modeling for the purpose of selecting and refining potential strategies, ranging from interventions to investments, to improve the health of communities and the nation's health. Participants worked to identify how modeling could inform population health decision making based on lessons learned from models that have been, or have not been, used successfully, opportunities and barriers to incorporating models into decision making, and data needs and opportunities to leverage existing data and to collect new data for modeling. This report summarizes the presentations and discussions from this workshop.Table of ContentsFront Matter1 Introduction2 Setting the Context3 Case Studies of Models Used to Inform Health Policy4 What Would Public Health Decision Makers Like from Models?5 Barriers and Opportunities for Using Models to Inform PopulationHealth Interventions and Policies6 Opportunities for the Future7 Final Thoughts: Ideas for the FutureAppendix A: ReferencesAppendix B: Workshop AgendaAppendix C: Biographical Sketches of Workshop Speakers