Strengthening Public Health Through Primary Care and Public Health Collaboration: Innovative State Approaches

Objective: Partnerships are increasingly critical to achieve the mission of public health. We sought to understand the levers and tools that states use to better connect public health and primary care in efforts to strengthen public health. Design: We reviewed literature focused on collaborative or integrative efforts between primary care and public health and examined strategies employed by 4 innovative states: North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington. Using a purposive convenience sample, we conducted semistructured interviews with 17 state experts from January to March 2023. We asked leaders to describe their approaches to data sharing, communication, and systems change that could be adopted or adapted by other states interested in better connecting primary care and public health systems. We recorded and coded interviews. Participants: Seventeen state leaders from North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington.