Leading healthcare partners announce system to improve public health.
January 2024 – The Journal of Healthcare Contracting
The collective approach toward public health efforts significantly changed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The impacts of the pandemic saw new and unconventional partnerships form between health systems and public health organizations, with the organizations working together toward improved health outcomes during the pandemic, according to The Common Health Coalition.
The Common Health Coalition: Together for Public Health, was formed in March of 2023 and announced on November 9, 2023 as a joint commitment to public health by five founding member organizations including the American Hospital Association, America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the Alliance of Community Health Plans, the American Medical Association, and Kaiser Permanente.
The Coalition aims to translate the lessons and successes of the COVID-19 pandemic into strategies that will strengthen partnerships with public health systems.
To outline actionable strategies to further public health, The Coalition will publish four recommendations in early 2024 that focus on spearheading greater coordination between public health and healthcare systems, building shared emergency preparedness plans, establishing national standards for healthcare data that help identify health disparities, and modernizing infectious disease detection, according to The Common Health Coalition.
Structure of The Coalition
The Coalition’s recommendations are informed by technical advisory groups of subject matter experts and public health leaders. Dr. Dave A. Chokshi, Former New York City Commissioner of Health, is the head chair of the Common Health Coalition. Dr. Chokshi is a practicing physician at Bellevue Hospital and most recently served as the 43rd Health Commissioner of New York City.
Additionally, Chelsea Cipriano, the Coalition’s managing director, most recently held leadership roles at the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the NYC Mayor’s Office, and previously served within the federal government at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Public health leader chairs also include Dr. Georges C. Benjamin, Executive Director of the American Public Health Association, and Dr. J. Nadine Gracia, President and CEO of Trust for America’s Health.
Public health recommendations
The Coalition and its’ partners are committed to “making healthcare accessible and affordable for everyone,” according to AHIP, and, according to the Alliance of Community Health Plans, “we understand we are all stronger when we collaborate and work together.”
The Coalition’s approach to accomplishing its goals include being transparent in regard to its clearly delineated goals, roles, responsibilities, and deliverables; and among partners and public health agencies, maintaining a reliable infrastructure during crisis, addressing health disparities, and interoperability across healthcare sectors.
ChangeLab Solutions, a nonprofit advancing health equity through law and policy, serves as the host of The Coalition and facilitates the development of recommendations.