Health care, public health partnership commits to action in four areas

The AHA and other founding members of the Common Health Coalition March 13 committed to action in four priority areas: coordination between health care and public health; always-on emergency preparedness; real-time disease detection; and exchange of actionable data, particularly to advance equity. They also released a compendium illustrating how interested organizations can commit to effective action.    
  
The AHA, AHIP, Alliance of Community Health Plans, American Medical Association and Kaiser Permanente formed the coalition last year to recommend strategies to strengthen coordination between the health care and public health systems.   
  
“Communication and collaboration are essential to solving our nation’s greatest challenges,” said Michelle Hood, AHA’s executive vice president and chief operating officer. “The pandemic reinforced this, and as cornerstones of their communities — hospitals and health systems know this. Using this experience to establish better lines of communication with local and state public health leadership will help us be better prepared for whatever lies ahead. The AHA and our 5,000-plus members know that we can meaningfully improve health and health equity if we join forces and continue to enhance collaboration.”