As the US health care system undergoes dynamic change, increased alignment between health care quality and payment is providing new opportunities for the public health and health care sectors to work together. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) 6|18 Initiative is accelerating cross-sector collaboration between public health and health care purchasers (employers responsible for employee health and insurance coverage), payers (public and private health insurers), and providers (health systems, physicians, and providers of ancillary services) that enhance payment, use, and quality of prevention practices. The initiative focuses on six high-burden health conditions and 18 associated evidence-based interventions designed to control costs and improve health outcomes.

CDC has led the initiative with support from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). CDC and CMS collaborate with the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) — with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation — and with the Association for State and Territorial Health Officials to coordinate technical assistance to state Medicaid agency and public health department teams and to facilitate shared peer-to-peer, state-to-state learning.

This blog post, authored by CHCS along with CDC and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice blog, highlights five things to know about the 6|18 Initiative now underway in 34 states, territories, and localities across the country.