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New regional councils look to improve local health care
Five new councils established by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) will be tasked with leading efforts to address social determinants of health, reduce health disparities and promote equity in health care.
DHS Secretary Teresa Miller announced on Wednesday that the department established five Regional Accountable Health Councils (RAHCs) that will work with regional health care systems and providers to develop strategies to address health needs in their communities.
Each RAHC will focus on a different Pennsylvania region with centers in the southeast, northeast, northwest, southwest and Lehigh/Capitol regions of the state.
“Inequity in health is not something any one organization can eliminate by themselves,” said Miller. “Providers must collaborate across medical disciplines and alongside social service providers to meet the complex needs of their shared patients and the broader communities they serve.”
Members of each RAHC will be made up of payers, providers, health systems, small practices and community-based organizations dealing with food and housing insecurity.
The councils’ objectives include:
- Promoting health equity and eliminating health disparities.
- Identifying and mitigating regional social determinants of health needs.
- Aligning value-based purchasing initiatives for better care and better health at lower costs.
- Supporting population health improvement processes.
- Centering health improvement efforts in the communities that need it most.
“This work will take time, but by building this infrastructure, we are creating a network for this work to begin and grow, and with that, bring about positive change that helps all of us,” said Miller.
