Category C: Hospitals - FY25 CIO Project Plans: Capacity Building Assistance; Advancing Linkage & Retention; and Living Learning Network - The United States public health system has long faced challenges in harmonizing its considerable efforts on behalf of the health and well-being of Americans, and those existing struggles were further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. To make headway in reducing health inequities and improving health outcomes requires collaborative national efforts between the various sectors and components of the public health system. In order to help with these collaborative efforts, Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET), the 501(c)(3) affiliate of American Hospital Association (AHA), proposes to leverage its resources and connections to work with its colleagues within AHA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide capacity-building assistance (CBA) to hospitals and health systems, a vital component of the U.S. public health system. HRET will do this by addressing the five strategic areas outlined in CDC-RFA-PW-24-0080, which include Organizational Capacity and Performance Improvement; Workforce; Data Modernization, Informatics and Information Technology; Partner Development and Engagement; and Policy and Programs. As a national convener with a strong track record of building sustainable capacity-building relationships, HRET will employ AHA and HRET’s in-house resources, groups and teams in combination with its external partnerships to deliver CBA to hospitals and the communities they serve in all five strategic areas. This CBA is designed to help hospitals and achieve the following short-term and intermediate outcomes: • Increased availability of and access to CBA services and products that address the strategic areas • Increased adoption of best/promising practices and/or tools by populations of focus of CBA services and products • Increased use of CBA services and products by populations of focus • Increased awareness and understanding of recommended processes, policies, programs, and practices within the strategic areas • Enhanced skill and ability to support decision-making toward processes, policies, programs, and practices within the strategic areas • Increased implementation and sharing of recommended processes, policies, programs, and practices within the strategic areas To impact the five strategic areas and achieve the outcomes listed above, HRET has developed and operates under a coordinate-and-respond model that leverages its existing structure and process model. This approach involves coordinating and curating information, data and activities from partners and soliciting continuous input from the field through a variety of methods, such as surveys, informal conversations, qualitative interviews and focus groups. This content and input is then filtered through AHA expertise and collaborative processes to determine the best products, programs and resources (output) to develop, scale and achieve optimal CBA outcomes for hospitals. As items are disseminated, the HRET team will then evaluate and solicit further feedback to address and eliminate any disparities as they arise, and it will perpetually refine additional output through ongoing PI. This process reflects HRET’s current work on areas of capacity need. This comprehensive approach, encompassing a detailed workplan and employing the vast network of HRET’s affiliates and partners, will help to deliver relevant, meaningful CBA that meets hospitals’ present and future needs to help the CDC achieve its long-term goal of implementing processes, policies, programs, and practices that result in improvements in all of the following: organizational and systems capacity, capability to address equity-focused public health priorities, effectiveness of organizational and systems infrastructure and performance, and health equity and overall health outcomes.
