Bridging Health Care & Public Health
The Common Health Coalition brings together leading health care organizations in pursuit of a reimagined health system — one in which the nation’s health care and public health systems no longer operate in parallel but work hand in hand, with better health for all as the common goal.
Health care and public health institutions responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by forging novel, impactful partnerships to support emergency response, data and information sharing, and infectious disease detection. The Common Health Coalition was formed to cement these types of crisis-driven strategies and others into existing infrastructure and strengthen the partnership between the health care and public health systems, particularly to advance health equity.
Meet the Coalition Members
Common Health Coalition members are health care leaders with a shared commitment to partnering with and taking action for public health. The coalition’s founding members, which are represented on the coalition's steering committee, are AHIP, the Alliance of Community Health Plans, the American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association, and Kaiser Permanente. The coalition works closely with national, state, and local public health leaders and experts to inform and advance its mission. It is chaired by former New York City Commissioner of Health Dave A. Chokshi, MD, MSc; and Chelsea Cipriano, MPH, serves as its managing director.
The Common Health Coalition's Approach
The Common Health Coalition is identifying actionable strategies that will equip health care organizations to better collaborate with and support public health. Guided by expert analysis, the coalition will issue recommendations in four initial areas:
- Spearheading greater coordination between the public health and health care systems, with clearly delineated goals, roles, responsibilities, and deliverables
- Building an “always on” emergency preparedness system — i.e., creating shared, well-maintained emergency preparedness plans between health care institutions and public health entities, resulting in a reliable infrastructure that can be scaled up quickly during a crisis
- Establishing national standards for stratifying public health and health care data, to ensure that data capture is consistent, actionable, and equipped to identify and address health disparities
- Modernizing infectious disease detection with the goal of interoperability across sectors and agencies, so that data can quickly guide policy, practice, and program interventions
Looking Ahead & ChangeLab Solutions’ Role
The Common Health Coalition will issue recommendations for the broader health care industry and policymakers in 2024. The recommendations are being informed by technical advisory groups of subject-matter experts and an advisory council of public health leaders. ChangeLab Solutions, a national nonprofit that uses the tools of law and policy to advance health equity, is hosting the coalition and facilitating development of the recommendations. The coalition and its members will work collaboratively with our public health colleagues to champion implementation of the recommendations and improve resilience against future public health threats.
Learn more about the Common Health Coalition and its work.
