Research partnership promises more public input into policy recommendations
at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies

February 2005

Contact:
Sallie Barker
404/463-9337
sbarker@gsu.edu
_________________________________________________

ATLANTA -- Two of Georgia's leading health care research organizations today announced the formation of a partnership that aims to increase public input on policy recommendations.

Georgia Health Decisions, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, grassroots group, will relocate this month to the Georgia Health Policy Center at Georgia State University, giving greater voice to the values and opinions of Georgians on a wide range of issues including end-of-life care, health insurance and rural health services, said Georgia Health Policy Center director Karen Minyard.

Georgia Health Decisions engages the state's residents in dialogue on health care issues and conducts structured research to understand the public's attitudes toward these issues. The Georgia Health Policy Center conducts, analyzes and disseminates research designed to help elected officials and others make informed decisions about health policy.

"We have a long-standing relationship with Georgia Health Decisions to gather Georgians' voices about health care so that we may echo them to policy makers,” Minyard said. "Georgia Health Decisions is already part of our past and present; this partnership solidifies its role in our future."

Georgia Health Decisions was part of the group that founded the Georgia Health Policy Center in 1995. As partners, Georgia Health Decisions will support Georgia Health Policy Center projects while continuing to be responsible for its own staff oversight, accounting and other administrative duties.

A formal link between the two organizations represents a natural move and one that will benefit the state, said Beverly Tyler, executive director of Georgia Health Decisions.

“Georgia Health Decisions has worked with the Georgia Health Policy Center continuously over the past 10 years,” Tyler said. “We share a common interest in improving the health of Georgians.”

Added Dr. Richard Cohen, chairman of Georgia Health Decisions: “We highly respect the work of the Georgia Health Policy Center and are pleased to be formalizing our relationship with its staff.”

Georgia Health Policy Center, housed within Georgia State's Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, provides evidence-based research, program development and policy guidance locally, statewide and nationally to improve communities' health status. Now in its 10th year, the center focuses on solutions to the toughest issues facing health care today, including insurance coverage, long-term care, children's health, and the development of rural and urban health systems.