Approaches to Cross-Sector Population Health Accountability

Approaches to Cross-Sector Population Health Accountability

In this paper, Discern Health explores financial alignment models that could establish accountability for providers and community entities working to improve population health.

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The U.S. remains the only developed country to spend more on health care services than on social services, suggesting that opportunities to address non-clinical health risk factors go unanswered. One response to this concern is to align value-based incentives for the health care system with incentives for community-based organizations (CBOs) working to improve social outcomes. This approach could increase collaboration among disparate organizations to improve population health and increase overall value.

Building risk relationships between medical care and social services would foster stronger coordination and better population health support. This paper proposes a framework for defining risk relationships, and to identify opportunities to use risk alignment to increase integration across health care and social services.