Definition

The factor– Health Services Structures that Promote Collaboration –  involves two elements:

• Infrastructure to support collaboration,
• Structures and mechanisms for public health and primary care to transcend silos.

Health service structures that promote collaboration are those organizational, technical, and social aspects or elements of the health care system that provide support and a foundation for the work of the system. There are two major elements in this factor that are important in facilitating collaboration: Infrastructure to support collaboration and structures, and mechanisms for public health and primary care to transcend silos.

Research has shown that the way the health care system is structured in relation to public health and primary care services, and the supports provided to facilitate and enhance joint services, are important influences on the success of collaborations.

By infrastructure we mean “the basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise to function.” (Source?)

Infrastructure to Support Collaboration
Having a sufficient and appropriate infrastructure is important to support collaboration. The infrastructure can include:

• Non-physical assets such as the rules and regulations governing various systems;
• The information (for example, surveillance data and data bases) and systems that ensure ongoing monitoring of population health and the threats to it;
• Infrastructure ca