Vision

The Health Policy Institute of Ohio’s vision is that Ohio is a model of health, well-being and economic vitality.

HPIO’s vision will be achieved by improving health value in Ohio through improved population health and sustainable healthcare spending.

Mission and unique role

(updated and approved by the HPIO Board of Directors on 10/25/2021)

HPIO is an independent and nonpartisan organization. Our mission is to advance evidence-informed policies that improve health, achieve equity, and lead to sustainable healthcare spending in Ohio.

Federal, state and local public policy play an instrumental role in achieving health value. Policy change, as a complement to health programs and services, is a key lever to impacting healthcare spending and health outcomes. HPIO’s work will focus on state-level public policy decisions that can lead to improved health value. The Institute’s primary audience is state public policymakers in both the executive and legislative branches of Ohio government.

HPIO is Ohio’s only nonpartisan organization solely dedicated to informing state health policy decisions. The Institute’s independence from any particular sector and its knowledgeable staff enable the organization to be both agile and credible. HPIO does not take positions on specific legislation, but will use its expertise on a comprehensive range of health policy issues, including the social drivers of health, to translate complex health policy information for state policymakers and others and to provide objective research, analysis and data presentation.

HPIO will perform three key roles in the policymaking process:

• Lead. Manage and facilitate multi-stakeholder meetings and collaborative processes to elevate policy options.
• Inform. Collect, analyze, synthesize and summarize data and information through environmental scans, literature reviews, needs assessments, focus groups, key stakeholder interviews, reports, dashboards, graphics and presentations.
• Improve. Provide health improvement planning and create evaluation processes with a strong focus on identifying measurable, time-bound objectives and the implementation of evidence-based strategies.

Values

HPIO embraces the following values:

• Objectivity – Improving the health of all Ohioans without representing the perspective of a particular sector or political ideology.
• Diversity – Seeking out and considering diverse perspectives and encouraging thoughtful dialogue focused on potential solutions.
• Credibility – Providing information and policy options that are data driven and evidence informed.
• Relevance – Focusing on the most pressing health policy issues facing Ohio and maintaining the agility needed to shift with changing needs and opportunities.

Strategic Plan 2020-2026

The Health Policy Institute finalized its latest strategic plan in April 2020.

HPIO “Pathway to impact” logic model (click to enlarge)

Outcomes and impact

HPIO’s intended short-range outcomes are that:

• Policymakers and other stakeholders who engage in the policymaking process:
• Are aware of and knowledgeable about current and emerging health policy issues and evidence-informed strategies
• Value HPIO’s non-partisan and independent leadership
• Turn to HPIO for information, analysis and evidence about what works to improve health value
• Consider information produced by HPIO to be relevant, credible and objective
• Stakeholders use information produced or disseminated by HPIO to influence the policymaking process

HPIO’s intended mid-range outcome is that state policymakers rely on HPIO when creating health policy. HPIO’s work will influence state policymakers directly and via stakeholders who use HPIO products to influence the policymaking process. The contributions of HPIO are among many factors that influence policy change and health value.

The intended long-range policy impact is that state-level public policy decisions lead to all Ohioans achieving their full health potential.
The intended long-range health impacts are:

• Equity is achieved by tailoring policies and allocating resources to communities where the need is greatest, coupled with efforts to address racism, discrimination and other forms of oppression.
• Healthy behaviors are incentivized and supported.
• Community conditions are improved so that all Ohioans live in communities that offer opportunities to be healthy.
• Ohioans have timely, affordable access to high-quality prevention, treatment and recovery services.
• Healthcare, public health and sectors beyond health are effective and collaborative.

There are many factors outside of HPIO that affect Ohio’s progress towards its long-range impact, including the political, social and cultural climate, economic trends, technological advances, advocacy, public policy at the federal and local-level and private sector actions. The influence of these other factors is denoted with a vertical dotted line in HPIO’s logic model.

The specific tactics and approaches used by HPIO will continually evolve based on Ohio’s performance on long-range policy and health impacts and other considerations, such as the policy landscape.

Tactics

HPIO’s work will focus on state-level public policy decisions that can lead to Ohio being a model of health, well-being and economic vitality through improved health value. Using data in the Health Value Dashboard as a foundation for prioritization, HPIO will identify evidence-informed policy strategies to improve Ohio’s health value rank and deploy the following tactics to advance those strategies:

Written and online products

HPIO publications and online resources will provide comprehensive and clear analysis on specific health policy topics. Through these products, HPIO will describe the “basics” of health policy and identify specific policy options that are evidence-informed, realistic and actionable.

HPIO will disseminate these products to state public policymakers through face-to-face meetings, hard-copy distribution of briefs and email outreach. HPIO also will disseminate its products to its list of over 5,000 stakeholders representing a wide variety of sectors.

Education

HPIO will present at national, state and local conferences, prioritizing opportunities that could impact policy change in the next one to three years. HPIO will produce Ohio Health Policy News, a weekly email that highlights news articles relevant to state health policy. In addition, HPIO will produce the Ohio Health Value Review, a quarterly electronic update designed to strengthen connections between public health and healthcare partners and highlight opportunities for sectors to work together to improve health value.

HPIO will also host multisector educational forums and webinars that offer a broad audience with the opportunity to learn about key health policy issues. These will include objective analysis from recognized national, state and local experts on current health policy issues and discussion of how these issues impact Ohio. The target audience will be state public policymakers (legislators, legislative staff, state agency and executive staff) and stakeholders that use information produced or disseminated by HPIO to influence the policymaking process, such as providers, advocates, health plans, employers, consumer representatives, researchers and public health. Generally, HPIO events will be open to the public and may provide certain groups with continuing education credits (such as lawyers or social workers).

Facilitation

HPIO will convene and facilitate diverse multi-stakeholder groups on key topics, such as health measurement, health equity, addiction and other ad hoc groups as needed. Through these groups, the organization will encourage dialogue, utilize the expertise of participants to inform analytical products and ensure that diverse perspectives are considered and understood.

Consulting

HPIO will provide fee-based consulting services on behalf of public and private sector entities that engage HPIO to conduct research, perform analysis, facilitate advisory or work groups and create written products. HPIO’s consulting will be an opportunity for HPIO to influence the policymaking process by directly serving policymakers as clients and/or by generating products that deepen HPIO’s understanding of key policy issues and drivers. HPIO’s consulting will also generate revenue to be invested in core projects.