Health policy

Health policy represents decisions, plans, and actions designed to achieve specific health goals within a society. HealthPartners Institute researchers and educators are active in this arena as members of and advisors to organizations that recommend and set health policy.

We work with leaders in public health and health care, business, education and government to create policies and programs to improve health, reduce health care costs, increase productivity and support learning. Together, we work to define a vision of health and well-being, set goals, outline priorities and roles and establish consensus. We also contribute through publications.

Key partners

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are private, nonprofit institutions that advise on challenges facing the nation and the world. Their work helps shape policy, inform public opinion and advance science, engineering and medicine.

Senior Investigator Leif Solberg, MD, and Senior Advisor George Isham, MD, are members of the Academies. Institute President Nico Pronk, PhD; Senior Investigator Brian Martinson, PhD; and Research Fellow Sanne Magnan, MD, are or have been committee members. They have contributed to the following reports:

• An Integrated Framework for Assessing the Value of Community-Based Prevention. The expert Committee on Valuing Community-Based, Non-Clinical Prevention Policies and Wellness Strategies created a way to assess the value of these policies and strategies.
• Redesigning the Process for Establishing the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The final report of the Food and Nutrition Board recommends ways to improve the process of updating the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
• Evaluating Obesity Prevention Efforts: A Plan for Measuring Progress. This Committee on Evaluating Progress of Obesity Prevention Efforts report aims to increase the likelihood that obesity prevention efforts will be assessed appropriately; the results of these evaluations will improve decision making in all sectors; the adoption, implementation and maintenance of tested interventions will be monitored; and the best ways to accelerate the prevention of obesity will be widely shared.
• Fostering Integrity in Research. This report by the Committee on Responsible Science describes best practices in research and recommended practical options for discouraging and addressing research misconduct and detrimental research practices.
• Cross-Sector Responses to Obesity: Models for Change: Workshop Summary. The Food and Nutrition Board Roundtable on Obesity Solutions fosters a dialog on issues in obesity prevention and treatment and weight maintenance.
• Examining Access to Nutrition Care in Outpatient Cancer Centers: Proceedings of a Workshop. This Food and Nutrition Board workshop explored connections among nutritional care, cancer and health outcomes.
• Promising and Best Practices in Total Worker Health: Workshop Summary. This workshop identified best practices in programs that combine occupational safety and health protection with health promotion in workplaces, employer and employee associations, academia and government.
• Roundtable on Population Health Improvement. This group recognizes that increased life expectancy and improved quality of life and health are influenced by social, economic, environmental, genetic, behavioral and health care factors.

Healthy People 2030

Institute President Nico Pronk, PhD, is co-chair of the Healthy People 2030 advisory committee. The committee is developing a road map for better health and well-being in the United States. Every decade, new science-based objectives are developed through the Healthy People initiative. The committee has developed several issue briefs that provide background information on key health objectives for the nation.

Community Preventive Services Task Force

The task force is an independent panel of public health and prevention experts. It provides findings and recommendations about community preventive services, programs and other interventions to improve population health. Institute President Nico Pronk, PhD, was a member from 2004 until 2018 and is currently helping to prepare the 2018 Annual Report to Congress.

• 2017 Annual Report to Congress: Providing the Science to Support Military Readiness and Resilience This report highlights recommendations for supporting military readiness and resilience in the United States Armed Forces, with particular emphasis on the challenges of obesity, tobacco use, and excessive alcohol use.
• 2016 Annual Report to Congress, Federal Agencies, and Prevention Stakeholders: Using Evidence to Improve Health Outcomes. In 2015, the task force issued 17 recommendations and findings in heart disease prevention and control, health disparities and vaccination rates.

National Commission on Prevention Priorities

The commission assesses the value of preventive services that protect and improve health. It helps decision-makers identify preventive services and policies that maximize the health benefits of their investments. The commission operates through HealthPartners Institute.

Key publications

Our research and education experts publish in many areas that inform health policy and support learning environments.

Publications – See more