Common Health Compendium

Created in 2023, Health First Indiana (HFI) aims to tackle Indiana’s poor health rankings by ensuring access to core public health services at the local level. With the state’s investment, HFI provides local health departments with funding and resources, utilizes partnerships between hospitals and local health departments, and uses county health data to implement evidence-based programs focused on prevention. HFI has identified core public health services, which local health departments and the Indiana Hospital Association have pledged to support. This private-public partnership empowers local health departments to determine where investments are made, with many success stories to date.

The Minnesota Electronic Health Record Consortium is a partnership between Minnesota health systems and public health agencies to study the epidemiology of diseases affecting Minnesotans, including health equity indicators related to COVID-19, substance use disorders, and other chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease and hypertension. The Consortium utilizes this comprehensive data to inform health policy and enact changes that meet the needs of the community.

Parkland Health and Dallas County Health and Human Services rely on shared data to provide social services, optimize clinical activities, target employee recruitment, and invest in communities, among other outcomes.

The Minnesota Department of Public Health joined a collaborative effort to implement and automate electronic case reporting for COVID-19.. The process reduced provider reporting burden and improved accuracy and efficiency of case data compared to other reporting methods, such as phone and fax.

Commissioned in 2003, the Hawaii Healthcare Emergency Management Coalition is a statewide federally qualified all hazards comprehensive emergency management healthcare coalition program. Over 186 partners from health care, emergency management, and public health coordinate, with clearly outlined responsibilities for each organization.

Community health workers bridge the gap between communities and health care and public health. During the COVID-19 pandemic, New York City’s public hospital system and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene created the Public Health Corps to harness the power of community health workers, also known as promotoras in Spanish-speaking communities. Community health workers are vital to a successful and equitable response during emergent disease outbreaks, as well as for chronic disease management.

Clear responses to trending narratives are vital both during public health emergencies and in the day-to-day work of public health professionals and health care providers. Through the Public Good Projects’s work in infodemiology—the study of the spread of information with the goal of improving public health—health care institutions and public health departments across the country have access to media monitoring tools and strategic insights that can inform decision-making around timely health communications. PGP will also encourage and support members to leverage trusted voices to deliver clear, consistent messages to the public.

The California Collaborative for Public Health Research (CPR3), which includes the University of California-California Department of Public Health Modeling and Advanced Analytics Consortium, serves as a blueprint for how state-wide academic and community public health partnerships can bridge research to policy to inform public health interventions, investments and decision-making.

Blue Shield of California supported the state’s efforts to provide equitable vaccine access. The resulting COVID-19 vaccine distribution network enabled the state to rapidly expand vaccine access by increasing public health agencies’ visibility into vaccine supply and distribution.

Michigan’s Public Health Advisory Council advises the governor and state health commissioner on health issues, including strategies to address them. Using a “One Health” approach, the council issued a public health call to action to bring partners in health care and public health together.

Public health emergencies are always on the horizon, and rural areas need to be prepared. White River Rural Health Center is working in tandem with the Arkansas Department of Health and Woodruff County Office of Emergency Services to stay ahead of crises. Through emergency preparedness and response plans, they have established a centralized hub for the provision of medical services and MOUs for supplies and staffing in an emergency.

In an uncommon twist, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene partnered with health plans to pay for provider-initiated COVID-19 vaccine counseling for unvaccinated people through the Vaccine Outreach and Counseling Program, leading to increased vaccination uptake.