Skip to main content

Accountable Communities for Health

What are Accountable Communities for Health?

Accountable Communities for Health bring together partners from health care, social services, and other sectors to take responsibility for the health of the entire population in a defined geographic area. The model fosters collaboration that engages all the levers of population health – social circumstances, economic conditions, environment, behavior, and more.

Nine Core Elements of Accountable Communities for Health

The Accountable Communities for Health model helps communities strengthen existing collaborations and enhance their effectiveness through a focus on nine core elements: Mission, Multi-sectoral Partnership, Integrator Organization, Governance, Data and Indicators, Strategy and Implementation, Community Member Engagement, Communications, and Sustainable Financing.

National Model, Local Learning

Vermont is one of several states supporting its communities in learning the Accountable Communities model, adapting it for their specific needs, implementing, and measuring impact. Since 2016 the State of Vermont (via the Blueprint for Health, the Vermont Department of Health, and the Department of Vermont Health Access Payment Reform Team, along with OneCare Vermont) has offered team-based learning sessions to guide Vermont communities in building the nine core elements of a successful Accountable Community for Health.

Starting with Vermont's Existing Teams

In all areas of Vermont, health and social service providers and other community members have spent years building multi-disciplinary workgroups that aim to improve health for their citizens, with awareness of the importance of the social determinants of health. These groups go by many names – Community Collaboratives, Community Health Action Teams, Regional Clinical Performance Committees and many more. This means communities aren’t building Accountable Communities from scratch, but rather using the model to deepen their collaborations and improve their effectiveness.

Accountable Communities for Health Resources

The Prevention Institute supported the introduction of the Accountable Communities for Health model in Vermont. They developed a curriculum for the first year of Learning Labs, offered a set of recommendations for Vermont communities, and an evaluation of the first phase of the project.

Vermont Accountable Communities for Health 101 Presentation

Vermont Accountable Communities for Health Contact List

Materials for 2018/2019 Learning Labs

Session 5 - June 24, 2019

Presentation: Agenda for session 5 and the core elements of sustainable financing

Presentation: Innovative financing for community health - NEK Prosper and the Initiative for Local Capital

Presentation: Community benefit levers and impact - NASHP on learning from other states

Presentation: Case study - Lamoille-Morrisville ACH transportation funding

Session 4 - December 10, 2019

Presentation: ACH Learning Lab 4

Steering Committee Toolkit

Sample Steering Committee Governance Agreement

Collective Impact Basics

Session 3 - November 9, 2018

Presentation: Data Dashboards for Accountable Communities for Health

Presentation: Using Theory of Change

Session 2 - October 5, 2018

Presentation: The Thrive (Barre ACH Group) Experience of Using Data to Drive Action

Presentation: Vermont Department of Health on Data Sources and Data Driven Decision Making

Presentation: Intro to Results Based Accountability for Accountable Community for Health Groups

Session 1 - September 10, 2018

Presentation: Strengthening Relationships and Arriving at a Common Agenda

ACH Learning Labs 2018/2019 Objectives

ACH Learning Lab 1 Agenda

Overview of each ACH group active in Vermont

Community-Based Partnership Canvas

Community-Based Partnership Canvas Instructions

Instructions for Creating an Elevator Speech

Team Trust Survey

Article: A Balanced Portfolio Model for Improving Health: Concept and Vermont's Experience by Jim Hester in Health Affairs

Article: The Next Health System by Jamie Harvie

Older Accountable Communities for Health Resources

Accountable Communities for Health Peer Learning Lab Curriculum
Page 55 and 56 of the Curriculum document offer links to additional resources

Accountable Communities for Health Curriculum Appendix

Accountable Communities for Health Learning Lab Launch Presentation

Report of the Population Health Institute on Accountable Communities for Health in Vermont
Pages 25-35 of the report are posters from each participating community documenting their work

Draft Vermont Population Health Plan|Presentation about Vermont Population Health Plan

Webinar: Advancing Health Through Accountable Communities: A Conversation with the States (including VT)

Additional Accountable Communities for Health Resources