healthcare Learning & Action Network
HEALTHCARE ACCOUNTABILITY LEARNING AND ACTION NETWORK
Shift convened an action-learning network for healthcare institutions committed to real power-sharing with communities across governance, data, and investment decisions.
- United States
- Facilitation + Action Design
- 2022 - summer 2023
Project Overview
Shift launched the Healthcare Accountability Learning and Action Network as an action-learning space centered on community expertise, anti-racism, truth and reconciliation, and political education. The Network convened healthcare institutions, including health systems, payors, and healthcare technology companies, who committed to design and implement initiatives that move power from healthcare institutions to communities. The goal was not more statements of intent, but concrete changes in how decisions are made: who holds authority, who controls data narratives, and how capital is deployed.
Shift Health Approach
- Two-phase learning and action structure to move from reflection and planning into community-led implementation.
- Institutional power and positionality work, linked to the “deny, distance, distort, delay” and the added fifth “distraction” framework.
- Guest-speaker learning across governance, data and technology, and investment to pressure-test what accountability looks like in practice.
- Focus on developing standards for community-healthcare power sharing partnerships that institutions can practice and sustain.
Implementation
The Learning Network experience ran in two phases. Phase 1 focused on learning sessions and action planning. October centered on institutional assessment and positionality, including how institutions use “deny, distance, distort, and delay” narratives even while making equity commitments. November explored concrete shifts in governance, data and technology, and investment, with December and January moving into more defined group work across those areas. Phase 2 (January 2023 through Summer 2023) was designed as an action implementation period, where institutions engage in a community-led initiative and develop sector recommendations based on what they learn doing the work.
2
phases: learning & implementation
3
Accountability levers: governance, data/technology, investment
5
“D” narratives named: deny, distance, distort, delay, distract
Results & Impact
This case study marks the launch and early learning of the Network, so the “impact” is about what was clarified and set in motion. Participants named a pressing need to move from predatory-designed systems toward ally-designed and ultimately equity-empowered systems, with communities playing an active role in decisions and in data narratives. The Network also sharpened a practical focus for accountability work: build shared power by understanding community needs, creating real space for community leadership, and closing the gap between what communities want and what institutions typically offer. Check out Shift’s healthcare accountability tools to learn more and to practice power-sharing in other healthcare settings.