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