title: Evaluating the Accountable Health Communities Demonstration Project.
abstract: Despite substantial evidence documenting the social patterning of disease, relatively little information is available on how the health care system can best intervene on social determinants to impact individual and population health. Announced in January 2016, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation's (CMMI) Accountable Health Communities (AHC) initiative provides an important opportunity to improve the evidence base around integrated social and medical care delivery. To maximize learning from this large-scale demonstration, comprehensive evaluation efforts should focus on effectiveness and implementation research by supporting local, regional, and national studies across a range of outcomes. Findings from this demonstration could transform how, when, and which patients' health-related social needs are addressed within the health care delivery system. Such findings would strongly complement other initiatives to address social factors outside of health care.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, 3333 California Street, Suite 465, San Francisco, CA, 94118, USA. Laura.Gottlieb@ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gottlieb
authors.affiliation: University of Missouri-Kansas City and Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, MO, USA.
authors.forename: Jeffrey D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Colvin
authors.affiliation: Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fleegler
authors.affiliation: Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, 3333 California Street, Suite 465, San Francisco, CA, 94118, USA.
authors.forename: Danielle
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hessler
authors.affiliation: Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Arvin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Garg
authors.affiliation: Center for Health and Community and the Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Adler
mesh_terms: D060866:Accountable Care Organizations / Q000458:organization & administration; D014487:Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S.; D018672:Community Health Planning / Q000458:organization & administration; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012109:Research Support as Topic / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014481:United States