Models of Collaboration Involving Hospitals, Public Health Departments and Others - Improving Community Health through Successful Partnerships

BACKGROUND: It is widely recognized that greater attention and more resources must be devoted to promotion of healthy life styles, prevention of illnesses and injuries, and early detection and treatment of health problems. A stronger focus on prevention and population health will require better communications and more effective collaboration among community hospitals (and their parent systems), public health departments, and other key parties within and outside the health field (for example, see Trust for America’s Health, A Healthier America 2013: Strategies to Move from Sick Care to Health Care in the Next Four Years, 2013.) BASIC PURPOSE AND PHASES OF THE PROPOSED STUDY: Previous studies have examined the nature and extent of collaboration between hospitals and public health departments. There is evidence of some increase in recent years (G. Mays and D. Scutchfield, “Improving Public Health System Performance through Multi-Organizational Partnerships,” Preventing Chronic Disease, 2010). However, there is broad consensus that decades of limited communications, lack of mutual understanding, and incongruent goals have inhibited collaboration between hospitals and public health departments in a large proportion of communities across the country. The need to accelerate positive change and the potential benefits of enhancing collaboration provide the impetus for this study. It will examine operational partnerships among nonprofit community hospitals, public health departments at the local and state levels, and other stakeholders; e.g., clinicians, consumers, employers, insurers, social service agencies, and school systems. The purpose of this study is: To identify, compare, and contrast exceptional models of collaboration involving community hospitals, public health departments, and other stakeholders who share commitment to improving community health and determine the key lessons learned from their experience. The objectives of this study are to: (1) identify models of collaboration in improving community health that are operational and highly successful; (2) examine up to ten outstanding models in relation to specific pre-defined questions; and (3) produce information and insights that will assist public policy makers and the leaders of other organizations in building strong, successful partnerships designed to measure and improve community health. The design of this study involves six principal phases described below