Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists

Injury, Substance Use & Mental Health: Public Health & Primary Care Integration

Note: The Public Health & Primary Care Integration Subcommittee is no longer active. This page will remain live in order to serve as an archive for related resources and information.

The Public Health and Primary Care Integration subcommittee aims to promote partnerships between health providers and public health. Historically, public health and primary care professionals have worked in isolation, but the recent push for better outcomes in population health has called for these two sectors to align and collaborate more effectively together. Current subcommittee priorities address community epidemiologic surveillance to support community health needs assessments, the public health interface and use of electronic health records, and sharing lessons learned from successful public health and primary care professional partnerships.

The subcommittee goals include:

Strengthen and refine how public health epidemiologists collaborate with healthcare providers to exchange health information.
Modernize the public health epidemiology workforce in terms of needed training for both existing and future workforces to prepare for population health surveillance.
Promote awareness and understanding of how the integration of primary care and public health services can be an opportunity for enhanced surveillance.
Serve in an advisory capacity for CDC on what’s practical for the existing public health epidemiology workforce.

Several documents have been published or are currently being developed that pertain to the integration of primary care and public health. These documents offer foundational guidance for PH & PC activities while highlighting the gaps in the literature where additional research and resources are needed.

Primary Care and Public Health Exploring Integration to Improve Population Health (Institute of Medicine)

Public Health and Primary Care Together: A Practical Playbook (De Beaumont Foundation, Duke University, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Community Health Assessment for Population Health Improvement: Resource of Most Frequently Recommended Health Outcomes and Determinants (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Epidemiologic Resources for Community Health Assessment and Improvement: Community Health Status Indicators Re-Launch Community Opinion Survey (V. Boothe & K. Murray)

ASTHO Primary Care and Public Health Integration Strategic Map

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