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TODAY ON THE BLOG

COVID-19

The Fierce Urgency Of Now: Closing Glaring Gaps In US Surveillance Data On COVID-19
By Nancy Krieger, Gregg Gonsalves, Mary T. Bassett, William Hanage, and Harlan M. Krumholz

Where are the data on COVID-19 to understand who in the US population is being tested, who is ill, and who is dying? The federal government should mandate that all testing data from a new digital short form are provided to the CDC, in real time, and that data are publicly reported, in real time, in relation to total cases and stratified by race/ethnicity, sex/gender, age, educational level, at the national, state, county, and ZIP code levels. Read More >>

COVID-19 Makes Funding For Health And Social Services Integration Even More Crucial

By Shauna Petchel

NOTE: During this global pandemic we know that now, more than ever, it’s important to share learnings from research and apply them to today’s crisis. That’s why we asked Shauna Petchel and her coauthors to share recommendations on how we can apply learnings from their article in the April 2020 issue in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As we look for solutions to the public health and economic challenges ahead, policy makers and organizational leaders can leverage cross-sector partnerships, social-needs screening, and sustainable payment models for integrated care to ensure that the community response to COVID-19 lays a foundation for a robust and coordinated recovery. Read More >>

Accelerating Data Infrastructure For COVID-19 Surveillance And Management
By Aaron Miri and Daniel P. O’Neill

In this post, we outline key steps for a crash program to expand the infrastructure needed to collect data and inform the phase triggers proposed by Scott Gottlieb and colleagues. Broadly speaking, we argue that this program can and should rely on technical standards and data-sharing systems which already exist but will require a more dirigiste approach than the US has embraced in the past, with firm federal coordination, and in some cases, mandatory provider participation. Read More >>

CONSIDERING HEALTH SPENDING

Maintaining Progress Toward Accountable Care And Payment Reform In An Unprecedented Pandemic: Part 1: Use And Financial Impact
By William K. Bleser, Elizabeth Singletary, Hannah L. Crook, Jonathan Gonzalez-Smith, Robert S. Saunders, and Mark B. McClellan

COVID-19 could have large financial impacts on accountable care organizations (ACOs) and more strongly affect physician-led ACOs. Read More >>

The post appears in the series Considering Health Spending.

IN THE JOURNAL

INTEGRATING SOCIAL SERVICES & HEALTH

The Organizational Risks Of Cross-Sector Partnerships: A Comparison Of Health And Human Services Perspectives
By Shauna Petchel, Sherril Gelmon, and Bruce Goldberg

Shauna Petchel and coauthors study the perspectives of health and human services leaders as Oregon created its Accountable Health Communities initiative in 2019. Among the many differences in those perspectives: Health system leaders view addressing social needs as population health management that facilitates a move away from fee-for-service payment, while human services leaders view contracts with health systems to deliver services as a potentially more reliable source of fee-for-service funding than grants and donations.