In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

Patient-oriented approaches to healthcare management have been brought to the fore in recent years, yet this book underlines how even further change is needed in order to fully mobilise the experiential knowledge of patients, and ultimately improve our healthcare systems. With contributions from scholars and patients across the globe, this collection brings together a comprehensive overview of major achievements in patient engagement, analysing political, organizational and clinical contexts. By understanding the concept of care partnership, the authors explore how this patient revolution could transform, improve and innovate the ways in which care services are organized and delivered. Looking closely at the role of new technologies, this timely book will undoubtedly be of use to patients, managers and professionals within the healthcare industry, as well as those researching health policy and organization.

On February 5, 2015, the Institute of Medicine Roundtable on Population Health Improvement hosted a workshop to explore the relationship between public health and health care, including opportunities, challenges, and practical lessons. The workshop was convened in partnership with the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO)-Supported Primary Care and Public Health Collaborative. Organized in response to the 2012 IOM report Primary Care and Public Health: Exploring Integration to Improve Population Health, this workshop focused on current issues at the interface of public health and health care, including opportunities presented by and lessons learned from the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services State Innovation Models program. The workshop featured presentations on several dimensions of the public health-health care relationship. Collaboration Between Health Care and Public Health summarizes the presentations and discussion of the event.

This work describes an approach to the development of community-based health education and patient advocacy programmes targeted at disease prevention and management. Partnerships between health systems and religious congregations, the authors show, can be remarkably successful at bringing appropriate care to people who are often difficult to serve. Describing programmes based on a six-year collaboration between health care systems and religious organizations in Florida, the book offers guidance for religious and medical leaders interested in developing similar programmes in their congregations and communities.

The book examines how the private sector in developing countries, specifically India, is tapped to deliver health care services to poor and underserved sections of population, through collaborative arrangements with the government.

This book offers a global perspective on healthcare reform and its relationship with efforts to improve quality and safety. It looks at the ways reforms have developed in 30 countries, and specifically the impact national reform initiatives have had on the quality and safety of care. It explores how reforms drive quality and safety improvement, and equally how they act to negate such goals. Every country included in this book is involved in a reform and improvement process, but each takes place in a particular social, cultural, economic and developmental context, leading to differing emphases and varied progress. Methods for tackling common problems - financing, efficiencies, effectiveness, evidence-based practice, institutional reforms, quality improvement, and patient safety initiatives - also differ. Representatives from each nation provide a chapter to convey their own situation. The editors draw a conclusion from these numerous contributions and synthesize the themes emerging into a coherent ‘lessons learned’ summary that delivers value to the numerous stakeholders. Healthcare Reform, Quality and Safety forms a compendium of the current ‘state of the art’ in global healthcare reform. This is the first book of its type, and offers a unique opportunity for cross-fertilization of ideas to the mutual benefit of countries involved in the project. The content will be of interest to governments, policymakers, managers and leaders, clinicians, teaching academics, researchers and students.

This book describes the nature of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in the health sector in Vietnam. It defines health-related PPPs, describes their key characteristics, and develops a taxonomy of the different types of PPPs that exist in practice, illustrated by international examples. It also assesses the regulatory and institutional framework for the health PPP program in Vietnam, as well as financing and accountability mechanisms for PPPs at its national and subnational levels. It provides an overview of the PPP project pipeline in Vietnam and analyzes important issues in the health PPPs’ design, preparation, and implementation, using eight case studies involving projects in different phases of the project cycle. This book also examines barriers that have hampered the successful design and implementation of health care PPPs in Vietnam. These barriers may be broadly categorized as barriers in the PPP policy and regulatory framework, in the public sector, in the private sector, and in the financial sector. It proposes feasible and actionable recommendations so that the government can consider tackling the identified barriers and advance the successful design and implementation of health PPPs.

Many countries are seeking to reach an effective universal health coverage system to increase the quality of life of their citizens. By implementing universal health coverage, countries can support all citizens, including those who do not have the financial power to pay for healthcare services, in receiving the necessary medical treatment to enable them to live healthier lives. Multidimensional Perspectives and Global Analysis of Universal Health Coverage is an essential reference source that defines the significance of universal health coverage and studies multiple concepts related to universal health coverage that can support qualified recommendations for governments seeking to improve their healthcare situation. Featuring research on topics such as financial risk, organizational performance, and patient safety, this book is ideally designed for policymakers, hospital executives, government officials, lawmakers, politicians, academicians, students, and researchers.

Integrating Social Care into the Delivery of Health Care: Moving Upstream to Improve the Nation's Health was released in September 2019, before the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic in March 2020. Improving social conditions remains critical to improving health outcomes, and integrating social care into health care delivery is more relevant than ever in the context of the pandemic and increased strains placed on the U.S. health care system. The report and its related products ultimately aim to help improve health and health equity, during COVID-19 and beyond. The consistent and compelling evidence on how social determinants shape health has led to a growing recognition throughout the health care sector that improving health and health equity is likely to depend â€" at least in part â€" on mitigating adverse social determinants. This recognition has been bolstered by a shift in the health care sector towards value-based payment, which incentivizes improved health outcomes for persons and populations rather than service delivery alone. The combined result of these changes has been a growing emphasis on health care systems addressing patients' social risk factors and social needs with the aim of improving health outcomes. This may involve health care systems linking individual patients with government and community social services, but important questions need to be answered about when and how health care systems should integrate social care into their practices and what kinds of infrastructure are required to facilitate such activities. Integrating Social Care into the Delivery of Health Care: Moving Upstream to Improve the Nation's Health examines the potential for integrating services addressing social needs and the social determinants of health into the delivery of health care to achieve better health outcomes. This report assesses approaches to social care integration currently being taken by health care providers and systems, and new or emerging approaches and opportunities; current roles in such integration by different disciplines and organizations, and new or emerging roles and types of providers; and current and emerging efforts to design health care systems to improve the nation's health and reduce health inequities.

How do organizations with different values, interests, and worldviews come together to resolve critical public health issues? How are shared objectives and shared values created within a partnership? How are relationships of trust fostered and sustained in the face of the inevitable conflicts, uncertainties, and risks of partnership?".