Program Collaboration and Service Integration

Book excerpt: "CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention's (NCHHSTP) program collaboration and service integration (PCSI) strategic priority is working to strengthen collaborative work across disease areas and integrate services that are provided by related programs, especially prevention activities related to HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis, other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and tuberculosis (TB) at the client level. PCSI is a mechanism for organizing and blending interrelated health issues, activities, and prevention strategies to facilitate a comprehensive delivery of services. There are five principles that form the decision making framework for PCSI: appropriateness, effectiveness, flexibility, accountability, and acceptability. By following these five principles for PCSI, programs can deliver more comprehensive integrated services to identify and treat disease more effectively to improve the health outcomes of the persons they serve. PCSI combines two approaches for improving public health outcomes: program collaboration and service integration. Program Collaboration involves a mutually beneficial and well-defined relationship between two or more programs, organizations, or organizational units to achieve common goals. It involves many aspects of comprehensive program management at state and local levels; the 10 essential public health functions, developed by the Core Public Health Functions Steering Committee in 1994, provide a useful framework for categorizing collaboration strategies among programs. Service Integration provides persons with seamless comprehensive services from multiple programs without repeated registration procedures, waiting periods, or other administrative barriers. NCHHSTP describes three levels of service integration at the client-provider interface: nonintegrated services, core integrated services, and expanded integrated services. "Core" integrated services are combinations of services for which CDC has published guidance or recommendations, and "expanded" integrated services are best and promising evidence-based practice for which CDC has not yet published specific guidance. NCHHSTP is committed to supporting PCSI efforts initiated by staff, grantees, and partners. The use of PCSI as a structural intervention by CDC's national, state and local partners will help achieve multiple related health goals to appropriate populations whenever they interact with the health system."--Page 1.