Disclaimer: Moving Health Care Upstream is a collaborative effort originally co-led by Nemours Children’s Health System (Nemours) and the Center for Healthier Children, Families & Communities at the University of California- Los Angeles (UCLA). The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Nemours, UCLA or the Moving Health Care Upstream initiative.

In Fall 2019, with support from The Kresge Foundation, Nemours Children’s Health System launched a two-year project exploring how health care organizations acting as integrators can join, catalyze and sustain cross-sector networks working on shared population health goals.

Since launch, we have shared periodic updates. (See blog posts from May 2019 and February 2020).

In this update, we’re pleased to announce the release of an issue brief- “Preliminary Findings on the Role of Health Care in Multi-Sector Networks for Population Health: Notes from the Field.”

The issue brief flows from the first wave of work within the two-year project: Beginning in early 2019, we scanned the literature and conducted formal interviews with 40 national experts (representing 30 organizations) who have insights related to integrative roles and functions within multi-sector population health networks, as well as the ways health care is involved in carrying out these roles and functions in support of networks’ shared goals. The themes from the interviews and literature scan are captured in the brief, presented as:
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Disclaimer: Moving Health Care Upstream is a collaborative effort originally co-led by Nemours Children’s Health System (Nemours) and the Center for Healthier Children, Families & Communities at the University of California- Los Angeles (UCLA). The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Nemours, UCLA or the Moving Health Care Upstream initiative.

Nemours Children’s Health System has selected nine communities from around the country to participate in our 2020 Integrator Learning Lab. The Integrator Learning Lab is one piece of a larger initiative supported by The Kresge Foundation: Exploring the Roles & Functions of Health Systems within Population Health Integrator Networks.

Learning Labs are a 6 month technical assistance model in which multi-sector teams (including health care organizations) working on shared population health goals have an opportunity to receive self-directed resources, coaching, and technical assistance on issues presenting challenges to their team.

The 2020 Integrator Learning Lab will focus on strengthening use of integrative roles and functions within cross-sector networks, in order to accelerate work toward the shared population health goals of the network.

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Disclaimer: Moving Health Care Upstream is a collaborative effort originally co-led by Nemours Children’s Health System (Nemours) and the Center for Healthier Children, Families & Communities at the University of California- Los Angeles (UCLA). The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Nemours, UCLA or the Moving Health Care Upstream initiative.

Exploring the Roles & Functions of Health Systems within Population Health Integrator Networks:

In 2012, Nemours’ National Office of Policy & Prevention and a team of stakeholders wrote an article entitled “Integrator Role and Functions in Population Health Improvement Initiatives.” The article outlined three core functions that “integrators” carry out to help network partners break down silos and advance ambitious health goals for their regions. In the ensuing years after this report, the field’s knowledge of how multi-sector networks for population health organize themselves and coordinate their services has grown tremendously. In spite of these developments in the field, an opportunity remains to help unpack the mechanics of how hospitals and health systems overcome unique challenges of serving as integrators while helping networks improve the overall living conditions of youth and families around the US.

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