The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #50363

Patrick Lenihan, MUPP, PhD, Chicago Department of Public Health, 333 South State Street, Room 200, Chicago, IL 60604 and Jennifer Hebert-Beirne, MPH, University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health, 1603 West Taylor Street, Chicago, IL 60612, 773 728 4070, lenihan_patrick@cdph.org.

A symbiotic but poorly defined relationship has existed between public health and the larger healthcare system. Providers within the larger healthcare system have traditionally played a significant role in public health activities. Likewise, public health agencies, especially in larger jurisdictions, have evolved as medical care providers. To meet the broader obligation of assuring provision of basic healthcare services, public health has a unique, critical oversight capacity toward the larger healthcare system. Fulfilling this end requires significant information regarding community health needs, system resources and capacity. Until now public health has approached this function largely without an adequate knowledge-base regarding healthcare system capacity and performance. Recognizing the importance of this knowledge-base, the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH), through a public-private partnership, initiated an effort to assess, monitor and understand health system capacity by establishing a longitudinal, citywide healthcare system tracking program. Through health system capacity assessment CDPH will enable the healthcare system to be more responsive to community needs. With neighborhood-level health systems capacity data CDPH can enhance mechanisms of community engagement and health improvement planning. CDPH can influence policy as service gaps and underserved populations are revealed. Resources will also be more easily amassed for more effective response to emerging crises. Ultimately, CDPH will assess both its role in the provision of personal health services; and, the larger healthcare system providers' role in the provision of more traditional public health services thus enhancing the role of CDPH in Chicago's healthcare system and significantly strengthening public health infrastructure.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize how CDPH's conceptualization of the healthcare system in Chicago builds upon past healthcare system models and theories
• Discuss the process CDPH used to identify players and key services comprising the healthcare system in Chicago
• Examine the usefulness of the 10 essential public health services in assessing public health service delivery
• Analyze the role public health agencies play in the provision of personal health services within the larger healthcare system in Chicago
• Analyze the role the larger healthcare providers play in the provision of traditional public health services
• Evaluate the effectiveness of data warehousing in tracking healthcare service delivery in Chicago

Keywords: Public Health Infrastructure, Health Care Utilization

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Chicago Department of Public Health Otho Sprague Memorial Institue
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.