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Abstract #153840

Elizabeth Elliott Cooper, MPH¹, Wayne Westhoff, PhD², and Jaime Corvin, PhD². (1) Department of Anthropology, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Avenue, SOC107, Tampa, FL 33620-8100, (813) 974-2138, eewilli4@mail.usf.edu, (2) Global Health, Univeristy of South Florida, 13201 Bruce B Downs Blvd, MDC56, Tampa, FL 33612

Background: What are the merits of cooperation? Why should we as individuals or representatives of a given organization risk our resources for the common good? The typical response is to cite a moral imperative – cooperation is something we OUGHT to do. Yet, this justification assumes cooperation's intrinsic value. With increasing healthcare privatization, altruistic arguments are increasingly difficult to support, creating a need for a paradigm shift. Methods: Game theory and its rules of simultaneous interdependence are applied to a healthcare case study, a community serviced by two healthcare systems. The results of an independent needs assessment are entered into a decision matrix and the relative payoffs assessed. The concept of Nash's equilibrium is then introduced to account for dynamic stasis – the means by which the status quo or existing agreements become self-enforcing – and cooperation enters the model as an essential component of beneficial change. Analysis: Basic game theory modeling and the mathematics of Nash's equilibrium support the need for cooperation. Cooperation is not simply a virtue, but a component of enlightened self-interest for any healthcare organization. In light of these findings, the community care network is discussed as the ideal embodiment of cooperation in the healthcare context.

Learning Objectives:

• •Recognize the contemporary need for a model of cooperation that takes into account market forces and is independent of moral imperatives
• •Understand the basics of game theory and Nash’s equilibrium
• •Apply game theory to a healthcare case study
• •Discuss the benefits of the community care network model

Keywords: Collaboration, Community Benefits

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.