HPIO releases brief on accountability for Ohio’s performance on tobacco use

The Health Policy Institute of Ohio has released its latest brief, titled “Mapping accountability to improve Ohio’s performance on tobacco use.” 

There are many public and private entities vested in reducing tobacco use for Ohioans and all share responsibility in improving Ohio’s performance. However, progress can be difficult to gauge if there is no measurement system in place to hold public health and healthcare organizations accountable for set objectives or targets to reduce tobacco use.

The publication builds on the Health Policy Institute of Ohio’s brief, The state of tobacco use prevention and cessation in Ohio: Environmental scan and policy implications by providing policymakers and other stakeholders with an understanding of how tobacco-related measures are tracked in Ohio and what, if any, mechanisms are in place to ensure accountability for improving Ohio’s performance.

To do this, HPIO developed a tobacco measurement accountability map, constructed around three primary objectives:

• Identify the types of tobacco-related measures that are tracked and reported in Ohio
• Determine whether tracking and reporting on tobacco-related measures is required or voluntary
• Learn who is accountable for meeting set targets or benchmarks for tobacco-related measures