November 13, 2023- The American Hospital Association, AHIP, the Alliance of Community Health Plans, the American Medical Association, and Kaiser Permanente have announced the Common Health Coalition: Together for Public Health. The Common Health Coalition is focused on translating the hard-won lessons and successes of the COVID-19 pandemic response into actionable strategies that will strengthen the partnership between our health care and public health systems. The Coalition is the product of a joint commitment to public health made in March 2023 by the five founding member organizations.
In early 2024, the Coalition will publish recommendations informed by technical advisory groups of subject matter experts and an advisory council of public health leaders. The recommendations will focus on four initial priority areas: spearheading greater coordination between the public health and health care systems; building shared, well-maintained emergency preparedness plans; establishing national standards for health care data that help identify health disparities; and modernizing infectious disease detection.
The development of these recommendations is being facilitated by ChangeLab Solutions, a national nonprofit that uses the tools of law and policy to advance health equity. The Coalition’s work is informed by an advisory council of public health leaders chaired by Georges C. Benjamin, MD, Executive Director of the American Public Health Association, and J. Nadine Gracia, MD, MSCE, President and CEO of Trust for America’s Health.