Models of Collaboration Involving Public Health Departments, Hospitals and Other Community Partners

The goal of this session is to share lessons learned from the study - Models of Collaboration involving Public Health Departments, Hospitals and Other Community Partners.  The need to accelerate positive change and the potential benefits of enhancing collaboration between public health departments, hospitals and other community partners  have provided the impetus for this study.  The overall purpose of this study has been:                                                               

To identify, compare, and contrast exceptional models of collaborative partnerships 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.

Nominations of successful partnerships were solicited, on a national basis, in concert with AcademyHealth, the American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, the Association for Community Health Improvement, the Catholic Health Association, the National Association of County & City Health Officials, state and metropolitan hospital associations, and the Public Health Practice-Based Research Networks.  Utilizing an advisory committee of experts in public health, healthcare and community engagement, nominations received were screened to produce a list of partnerships exhibiting geographic, programmatic and structural diversity as well as program success and sustainability.  Site visits, qualitative interviews and analysis provided insights into the elements of strong, successful partnerships designed to improve community health.  Early study analysis reveals core characteristics of these partnerships include breadth of partners, clear goals and objectives, strong leadership, performance evaluation and improvement metrics.