• Edie E Zusman, Sara Jensen Carr, Judy Robinson, Olivia Kasirye, Bonnie Zell, William Jahmal Miller, Teri Duarte, Adrian B Engel, Monica Hernandez, Mark B Horton, and Frank Williams.
• Pacific Brain and Spine Medical Group, Sutter Health East Bay Neuroscience Institute, Eden Medical Center, 20055 Lake Chabot Rd., Suite 110, Castro Valley, CA 94546, United States. Electronic address: zusmane@sutterhealth.org.
• Prev Med. 2014 Dec 1; 69 Suppl 1: S98-101.

AbstractThe 2010 Affordable Care Act's (ACA) aims of lowering costs and improving quality of care will renew focus on preventive health strategies. This coincides with a trend in medicine to reconsider population health approaches as part of the standard curriculum. This intersection of new policy and educational climates presents a unique opportunity to reconsider traditional healthcare structures. This paper introduces and advances an alignment that few have considered. We propose that accountable care organizations (ACOs), which are expected to proliferate under the ACA, present the best opportunity to establish partnerships between healthcare, public health, and community-based organizations to achieve the legislation's goals. One example is encouraging daily physical activity via built environment interventions and programs, which is recommended by numerous groups. We highlight how nonprofit organizations in Sacramento, California have been able to leverage influence, capital, and policy to encourage design for active living, and how their work is coordinating with public health and healthcare initiatives. In conclusion, we critically examine potential barriers to the success of partnerships between ACOs and community organizations and encourage further exploration and evaluation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

20 keywords...

hide…