Health care as a civil right: Developing a framework for using civil rights principles as a basis for public accountability in health care delivery at the community level

Although there has been much attention to health and health care disparities, rarely is this linked to a civil rights strategies to reduce disparities in the most efficient, effective, and equitable ways. This session will assess the three-part webinar series sponsored by the Community Health Planning and Policy Development (CHPPD) section to introduce a new conceptual framework for incorporating civil rights concepts into the community health planning process. The webinar series will be archived along with a blog at the URL http://hc-cr.blogspot.com/.

The webinar focused on three topics: (1) history of civil rights in health care; (2) current assessment of how civil rights are being used now in health care; and (3) new opportunities to use civil rights as a basis for public accountability in health care delivery at the community level. The primary presenters included David Barton Smith from Drexel University School of Public Health, Vernellia Randall from University of Dayton School of Law, Brian Smedley from The Opportunity Agenda, Jane Perkins from National Health Law Program, and Bob Griss from the Institute of Social Medicine and Community Health.

The session will evaluate the conceptual framework for applying civil rights principles to health care regulations, discuss ways in which health care regulators can use levers of public accountability to ensure that the health care delivery system functions “as a system” at the community level, identify obstacles to enforcement, and evaluate the learning process for introducing civil rights concepts into community health care planning activities.