Description

This article discusses how the the Accountable Care Act provision of community health assessments has prompted more cooperation between nonprofit hospitals, public health departments, and other community organizations. The article focuses primarily on public health departments. Driven by the increasingly shared vision of managing population health, officials for hospitals and public health departments are working together more closely. These two types of health organizations do not have a tradition of working as true partners, but resources are available to aid in the process from such organizations as the Institute of Medicine, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The form that a given partnership should take and the kind of organizations that join the partnership should depend on the community’s needs. Key to a partnership’s success will be committed, trusting partners, a clear mandate and organizational structure, and adequate funding from at least one anchor member.

https://www.hhnmag.com/articles/3576-public-partners-in-population-health