Health Care System transformation and integration: A Call to action
for Public Health
The article discusses about the authors’ views about a call of action for Public Health and
the prospective transformation of the health care system. Health care providers and third-
party payers have powerful incentives to reduce the costs of illness and injury. But, the
question is how they will respond to those incentives. To date, the integration process has
been driven primarily by the health care sector. Integration of population health goals into
the organization of health care delivery and financing cannot and should not be left to
health care administrators alone. Social determinants of health, upstream prevention, and
population health have only recently become watchwords in the health care sector; they
have been the wheelhouses of public health experts for decades. Public health lawyers are
well positioned to play a role in integration. They have the expertise to guide health
departments and hospitals as they seek to understand and implement evolving tax policy
and payment incentive requirements.