Year: 2015
Funding: PHSSR PHS4 Award
Status: Completed
Overview
Washington state’s developing Accountable Communities of Health (ACH), regional health collaborations of public health, clinical care delivery and human services with greater focus on prevention, intend to improve health and quality of care and ultimately reduce costs. Public Health - Seattle & King County will lead this study to assess the association of ACH activities, including shared data systems and care coordination strategies, with improved health and criminal justice outcomes for adults with complex medical and social needs. Investigators will examine each county’s multidisciplinary care coordination system for adults who have been incarcerated and face challenges for housing, medical care, and treatment for serious mental illness. After one year of care coordination, the study will report outcome measures related to jail time and severity of bookings, emergency department use, and time elapsed between jail release and first appointment with primary care and behavioral health providers. The investigators also will study ACH development processes in two counties to assess factors that facilitate or inhibit the local human and health services departments’ (LHHSD) ability to build regional shared data measurement and care coordination systems. Among the partners involved in the study are King County, Whatcom Alliance for Health Advancement, the University of Washington, Community Health Plan of Washington, Health Care Authority, Northwest Center for Public Health Practice, and the Washington Public Health Practice-Based Research Network (PBRN).
Publications
- The Changing Practice of Public Health Surveillance: Examples from King County, Washington (Discussion Paper, commissioned for AcademyHealth Public Health Interest Group Meeting, June 2016)
- Role of Data in Transforming Health and Human Services (Policy Brief, February 2017)
Presentations
- Accountable Community of Health Structures and Cross-Sector Coordination (PHSSR Research in Progress Webinar, April 2016 recording)
- Accountable Communities of Health: Influence on Local Health and Human Service Department's Ability to Develop Cross-Sector Shared Data and Care Coordination (Poster presentation at AcademyHealth Public Health Systems Research Interest Group Meeting, June 2016)
- Beginning to Unpack the Data Needs of Medicaid Waiver Transformation Projects in King County (Performance Measurement Work Group, November 2016)
- A Perspective on Data Integration and the Emerging ACH Context (ACH Development Council Webinar, January 2017)
- Toward Improved Data Sharing, Linkage and Dissemination among King County Government Agencies and their Partners (Performance Measurement Work Group, January 2017)
- Accountable Community of Health Structures and Cross-Sector Coordination (Systems for Action Research in Progress Webinar, June 2017 recording)
Tools
- Interview with Eli Kern, Co-investigator (Re-Act, Research to Action in Public Health Delivery Podcast, August 2015)
- A perspective on data integration and the emerging ACH context (ACH Development Council overview, February 2016)
- Initial recommendations to the Interim Leadership Council on data sharing and integration in King County (Performance Measurement Workgroup report, February 2016)
- Whatcom Alliance for Health Advancement Intensive Case Management System: Evaluation of health care outcomes (Report, February 2017)
Research Areas
Contacts
Nadine Chan, Ph.D., M.P.H. and Eli Kern, M.P.H.
Public Health - Seattle and King County