Aligning Systems for Health

Aligning Systems for Health, led by the Georgia Health Policy Center with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, focuses on identifying, testing, and sharing what works to align health care, public health, and social services to better address the goals and needs of the people and communities they serve. The project will:

Synthesize existing research learnings and disseminate findings
Support original research and evaluation
Build relationships with those already working in the field

PHIL partnered with Accountable Communities of/for Health (ACHs) across Washington and California to learn which aligning approaches are working when, where, for whom, and why. PHIL’s Aligning Systems for Health research explored how aligning across health care, public health, and social service sectors—in partnership with community residents and tribal nations—leads to outcomes in ACHs. Learn more about the research project.

Project Impacts

PHIL’s research contributed to the evidence base that was used by local and state-level leaders to successfully advocate for the ACH model in Washington and California. In Washington, research contributed to successfully advocating for a Medicaid Transformation Project extension that provides continued financial support to ACHs. In California, research contributed to successfully advocating for a new $15 million dollar budget line item to support the 13 existing ACHs serving California communities and further expand the ACH model across the state.

In the summer of 2022, PHIL hosted a learning experience for ACHs based on research findings called “Trust, Community Voices, & Equity: A 3-Part Workshop for Building a Better ACH.” Seventeen individuals representing nine ACHs across Washington and California participated in the workshop.

Resources

“Improving Population Health Through Multisector Collaboration” Brief Series
The “Improving Population Health Through Multisector Collaboration” brief series synthesizes lessons learned from PHIL’s Aligning Systems for Health research conducted from May 2020 – November 2022 in six parts. Visit our brief series webpage to access all six briefs.

Toolbox
PHIL developed a “Toolbox for Measuring Cross-Sector Alignment” that includes resources for measuring aligning across sectors. The toolbox can be used by researchers to study aligning across sectors; funders to inform funding priorities and reporting requests; evaluators to assess aligning efforts in cross-sector collaboratives; and practitioners looking for process measures of aligning to integrate into performance management.

Report
In 2021, PHIL conducted a study with six Accountable Communities of/for Health (ACH) in Washington and California that sought in-depth answers to the question: “How do local context and power dynamics influence an ACH’s ability to make progress toward improved equity?” Findings from this study are available in this report: “Advancing Equity: Adapting to Local Context and Confronting Power Dynamics. Lessons learned from Accountable Communities of/for Health.“

Web Discussion
In 2022, PHIL hosted a web discussion, “Measuring Aligning Across Sectors.” Multisector collaboratives need practical tools and metrics to assess the success of their aligning efforts. They need to know what to measure, how to measure it, how to collect and analyze reliable evidence, and share their findings in a timely and useful manner. This web discussion describes findings from PHIL’s study assessing the reliability, validity, feasibility, and utility of core aligning measures. We discuss key learnings such as new concepts that emerged through this research and relationships discovered between components of the Framework for Aligning Sectors.

Data Walk
The Aligning Systems for Health Data Walk is the most comprehensive repository of lessons learned from the Population Health Innovation Lab’s (PHIL) years of research with Accountable Communities of/for Health (ACHs) to learn how multisector collaboration leads to increased alignment; advances equity; and can be sustained. The Data Walk is a carefully curated collection of resources–including stories, statistics, quotes, examples, definitions, ideas, reports, videos, and articles, all focused on the topic of multisector collaboration for improved population health.

The work is guided by the Technical Advisory Committee comprised of local and national leaders. Learn more about Aligning Systems for Health