Dear John,

ICYMI, Health Affairs This Week featured Jeff Byers chatting with Senior Editor Michael Gerber about Gerber's recent trip to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Health Equity Conference in Bethesda and the main takeaways that he found from the diversity of panels offered.

Developing Accountability Metrics

In the June issue of Health Affairs, “Reimagining Public Health,” two articles examine innovative policies to address public health at the state level. 

Kusuma Madamala of the Oregon Health Authority and coauthors examine the development of Oregon's public health accountability metrics since 2012.

The researchers conclude that these metrics indicate that investment in public health can improve health outcomes and “can be used to foster collective actions across sectors and partners to achieve the policy and system change necessary for eliminating health inequities.”

Hospitals' Needs Assessments & Community Health In Ohio

Cory Cronin of Ohio University and coauthors assess the alignment between Ohio nonprofit hospitals and local health departments in the community health needs they identify and those they prioritize. 

The researchers find that alignment across organizations was high among top health needs identified, but lower on “less commonly identified needs and for the social determinants of health.”

More on Population Health

• California’s Health4All Kids Expansion And Health Insurance Coverage Among Low-Income Noncitizen Children by Brandy J. Lipton et al.
• Population Aging And Emergency Departments: Visits Will Not Increase, Lengths-Of-Stay And Hospitalizations Will by Daniel J. Pallin et al.
• Forefront: Can The Population Health “Fantasy Equation” Be Solved? Does It Need To Be? by David Kindig and John Mullahy
• A Health Podyssey: Rachael Bedard Explains Health Care in Jails

Health Affairs Branded Post:

Blair Harrison and Tyler Winkelman

Sponsored by UnitedHealthcare

How To Advance The Debate Over QALYs: A Response To Kaplan et al.

Jason N. Doctor and Darius N. Lakdawalla

Community & State is the business segment of UnitedHealthcare that provides health care coverage for the economically disadvantaged, the medically underserved and those without the benefit of employer-funded health plans. These state-based health plans meet local needs, while leveraging the national resources of UnitedHealthcare.

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