Viewing Telehealth Through the Lens of a Community Benefit Mission.

Introduction: This article reviews the intersection of common objectives between telehealth initiatives launched by health systems and community health (specifically community benefit). Telehealth initiatives can benefit communities and play a potential role in improving population health. There is great opportunity to better integrate telehealth activities into community health strategies and community benefit reporting (for nonprofit hospitals) while building the case for telehealth service expansion.

Parents' and staff's support for a childcare agency employee mandatory vaccination policy or agency certification program.

Background: Vaccine-preventable diseases pose a significant risk to children in childcare. However, few regulations exist regarding childcare staff vaccination. This study aimed to assess support for a childcare agency staff mandatory vaccination policy.

Outcomes, Approaches, and Challenges to Developing and Passing a Countywide Mandatory Vaccination Policy: St. Louis County's Experience with Hepatitis A Vaccine for Food Service Personnel.

In the early 1990s, St. Louis County had multiple foodservice worker-related hepatitis A outbreaks uncontrolled by standard outbreak interventions. Restaurant interest groups and the general public applied political pressure to local public health officials for more stringent interventions, including a mandatory vaccination policy.

Collaboration among Missouri nonprofit hospitals and local health departments: content analysis of community health needs assessments.

Objectives: We identified the levels of joint action that led to collaboration between hospitals and local health departments (LHDs) using the hospital's community health needs assessments (CHNAs).

Methods: In 2014, we conducted a content analysis of Missouri nonprofit hospitals (n = 34) CHNAs, and identified hospitals based on previously reported collaboration with LHDs. We coded the content according to the level of joint action.

Describing the continuum of collaboration among local health departments with hospitals around the community health assessments.

Background: Hospitals and local health departments (LHDs) are under policy requirements from the Affordable Care Act and accreditation standards through the Public Health Accreditation Board. Tax exempt hospitals must perform a community health needs assessment (CHNA), similar to the community health assessment (CHA) required for LHDs. These efforts have led to a renewed interest in hospitals and LHDs working together to achieve common goals.

Why common carrier and network neutrality principles apply to the Nationwide Health Information Network (NWHIN).

The Office of the National Coordinator will be defining the architecture of the Nationwide Health Information Network (NWHIN) together with the proposed HealtheWay public/private partnership as a development and funding strategy. There are a number of open questions--for example, what is the best way to realize the benefits of health information exchange? How valuable are regional health information organizations in comparison with a more direct approach? What is the role of the carriers in delivering this service? The NWHIN is to exist for the public good, and thus shares many traits of the common law notion of 'common carriage' or 'public calling,' the modern term for which is network neutrality. Recent policy debates in Congress and resulting potential regulation have implications for key stakeholders within healthcare that use or provide services, and for those who exchange information.

Examining the consulting physician model to enhance the school nurse role for children with asthma.

Background: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Strategies for Addressing Asthma Within a Coordinated School Health Program recommends a consulting physician for schools to help manage asthma. The literature examines the effects when a school nurse is present, but the addition of a consulting physician is not well understood. The purpose of this study is to assess the effect of having a consulting physician on school absenteeism and children sent home due to health reasons for children with asthma and all children pooled together.

Bridging implementation and institutionalization within organizations: proposed employment of continuous quality improvement to further dissemination.

Objective: Although organizations may initially adopt and implement interventions, the institutionalization of these interventions does not always occur. The purpose of this article is to provide an example describing the breakdown in the dissemination process using an accepted conceptualization and measurement of institutionalization. We also suggest an approach for understanding the movement of the intervention through the dissemination process to improve the likelihood of institutionalization.