With the nation’s increasing focus on health care quality and cost comes a growing recognition of the role that social determinants of health – such as housing, food security, education, and employment – play in the well-being of individuals and communities. Many community-based organizations (CBOs) and health care organizations are exploring partnership opportunities to help individuals in their communities achieve better health outcomes.

The Partnership Assessment Tool for Health (PATH), designed for CBOs and health care organizations in existing partnerships, provides a template to: (1) understand progress toward benchmarks characteristic of effective partnerships; (2) identify areas for further development; and (3) guide strategic conversations. The objective of the tool is to help partnering organizations work together more effectively to maximize the impact of the partnership.

The tool was developed through the Partnership for Healthy Outcomes, a year-long project of Nonprofit Finance Fund, the Center for Health Care Strategies, and the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities with generous support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which captured insights for partnerships between health care and community-based organizations, particularly those that serve low-income and/or vulnerable populations.