America's Physician Groups and HealthBegins Announce the Launch of a National Social Needs Learning Collaborative

LOS ANGELES, May 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Physicians see the impact of unmet social needs in their clinics every day, but say they need support to learn how to address them. To support physicians and the communities they serve, America's Physician Groups and HealthBegins are excited to announce the launch of a national Social Needs Learning Collaborative, bringing together a cohort of medical groups, independent practice associations, and integrated healthcare systems that will rapidly align teams of healthcare systems and community partners to address shared social needs of community members and patients – things like access to food, affordable housing, and transportation.

The official launch date for the learning collaborative is May 16, 2020.

America's Physician Groups believes this national Social Needs Learning Collaborative will provide needed support to teams on the ground who are addressing unprecedented challenges, while building towards a sustainable infrastructure to continue to address the social drivers of health. Additionally, the cohort-model allows teams to develop a network across the country to quickly share their learnings and brace for upcoming needs.

The first cohort of learning collaborative participants hail from across the country:

• Bayhealth Physician Alliance, Dover, DE
• Chinese Community Health Care Association, San Francisco, CA 
• Mount Sinai Health System, New York, NY
• MSO of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR
• Providence Medical Institute, Torrance, CA

"Even before COVID-19, there was an urgency for healthcare and the social sector to better integrate to address social needs, but the pandemic accelerates the work," said Amy Nguyen Howell, MD, Chief Medical Officer, America's Physician Groups. "Just as importantly, this moment allows us to build infrastructure to better address these social drivers of health and continue our work to dismantle the structural pieces that got us to this point."

"Now more than ever, we know that integrating health care and social services is not only necessary – it's possible. We are honored to partner with America's Physician Groups and applaud this first cohort for their commitment to improving the health-related social needs of their patients and communities. We look forward to helping them achieve their goals," said Rishi Manchanda MD, MPH, Chief Executive Officer, HealthBegins.

HealthBegins is a national mission-driven consulting and training firm dedicated to improving care and social drivers of health and equity. Using an equity lens, we work closely with allies and partners to design bold strategies, drive major improvement, and transform systems and structures through strategic consulting, technical assistance, training, network and partnership development, and facilitation. Learn more at www.healthbegins.org.

America's Physician Groups (APG) is a professional association, representing over 300 medical groups, independent practice associations, and integrated healthcare systems across the nation. We're taking responsibility for America's health by driving down cost and improving the health of the population. Our members are committed to responsible payment models that make them accountable for both cost and quality. We strongly believe that patient-centered, coordinated, and accountable care offers the highest quality, most efficient delivery mechanism, and greatest value for patients. America's Physician Groups' members have successfully operated under this budget-responsible model for several decades.  Learn more at www.apg.org.

SOURCE America's Physician Groups

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