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The Kaiser Permanente Southern California (Kaiser) health care system succeeded in improving hypertension control in a multiethnic population by adopting a series of changes in health care delivery. Data from the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) was used to assess blood pressure control from 2004 through 2012. Hypertension control increased overall from 54% to 86% during that period, and 80% or more in every subgroup, regardless of race/ethnicity, preferred language, or type of health insurance plan. Health care delivery changes improved hypertension control across a large multiethnic population, which indicates that health care systems can achieve a clinical target goal of 70% for hypertension control in their populations.

Until recently, health care systems in the United States often lacked a unified approach to prevent and manage chronic disease. Recent efforts have been made to close this gap through various calls for increased collaboration between public health and health care systems to better coordinate provision of services and programs. Currently, the extent to which the public health workforce has responded is relatively unknown. The objective of this study is to explore health care system collaboration efforts and activities among a population-based sample of state public health practitioners.