Advancing health policies that improve outcomes and meet the moment requires careful leadership and collaboration. The journey from identifying an issue that needs to be addressed, to engaging with policy makers, to passing legislation takes significant time, energy and investment. Rarely can this work be carried forward by a single organization alone. Collaboration is essential.

Coalitions bring together stakeholders from across the health care ecosystem to align around common goals and speak with a collective voice, helping to build credibility with decision-makers, foster durable consensus and sustain momentum over time. By turning shared priorities into actionable policies that expand access, coalitions can improve outcomes and make health care more accessible for countless patients and communities nationwide.

Advancing Meaningful Policies

Coalitions can be impactful in advancing meaningful health policies for several reasons:

• Building an interconnected network: Groups often approach the same issue for different reasons but share the same goal. Single issues nearly always have wide-reaching downstream impacts that bring diverse groups together. For instance, an effort dedicated to passing a policy ensuring insurance coverage of a new multi-cancer early detection test could involve uniting medical device innovators, patient access organizations, cancer groups and provider and medical societies.
• Centering and amplifying key voices: Coalitions serve as forums for those who have been personally impacted by an issue to share their experiences, which strengthen advocacy efforts by highlighting the real-world impacts of health care policies.
• Sharing resources and expertise: By working together, groups share complementary resources and expertise that help reduce duplicated efforts and increase impact, without overextending capacity or funding.
• Signaling momentum and readiness for action: Coalitions indicate to policymakers that there is consensus, energy and shared support for a policy measure.

Driving a Successful Coalition

When building, launching and managing a coalition, strategic, intentional best practices can make an impact:

• Before launch: Thoughtfully identify all communities that may be affected by an issue, and share why each stakeholder is well positioned to contribute and how the policy ask could impact their community.
• Upon launch: Create impact by engaging across media and influencer channels to amplify the announcement and ensure the coalition’s efforts become widely visible.
• Post-launch: Consistently communicate to policy makers and stakeholders to help keep the effort top of mind. Ensure that coalition members remain up-to-date with efforts, which will help maintain visibility and continue the resource-sharing that is critical in driving progress.

In an environment where it can be difficult to break through the noise, coalitions are a powerful—and proven—approach to achieve goals using a strategic, collaborative and values-driven approach.

Ultimately, coalitions remind us of what the health care community already knows to be true: to change policy for the better, we must work closely together.