Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

A sample of 40 from 176 public policy organizations in Washington, DC, was studied. The organizations were those whose leadership was deemed necessary to develop a new strategic vision of electronic technologies to support public health. The results showed that large, secure and well positioned organizations became active only to the extent of their mandates, while smaller and less influential groups, which were freer to think and act innovatively, had an incentive to work with other organizations to gain effective support for their policy positions. The conclusion is that the constituencies of leading policy organizations will have to ensure that well connected leaders and environmental scanning structures guide their organizations and that they have the institutional capacity to develop unconventional strategies to meet health challenges.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Public Health Data Policy Coordinating Committee. Making a Powerful Connection: the Health of the Public and the National Information Infrastructure. A report of the Public Health Service. Washington, DC: US Public Health Service, DHHS, 6 July 1995.

National Telecommunications and Information Administration. The National Information Infrastructure: Agenda for Action. Washington, DC: Department of Commerce, 15 September 1993.

Office of Techology Assessment. Making Government Work: Delivery of Government Services. Washington, DC: US Congress, 1993.

Campbell

. Managing the Presidency. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh, 1986.

Brint

. Rethinking the policy influence of experts: From general characterizations to analysis of variation. Sociological Forum 1990:5:361–85.

Rochefort

Cobb

. Problem definition, agenda access, and policy choice. Policy Studies Journal 1993;21:56–71.

Beyer

Trice

. The utilization process: a conceptual framework and synthesis of empirical findings. Administrative Science Quarterly 1982;27:591–622.

Brewer

de Leon

. Foundations of Policy Analysis. Homewood, IL: Dorsey, 1983.

Longest

. Health Policymaking in the United States. Ann Arbor, MI: Health Administration Press, 1994.

10.

Institute of Medicine. The Future of Public Health. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1988.

11.

Milio

. Engines of Empowerment: Using Information Technology to Create Healthy Communities and Challenge Public Policy. Chicago: Health Administration Press, 1996.

12.

Yin

. Case Study Research: Design and Methods. Newbury Park: Sage Publications, 1989.

13.

Office of Technology Assessment. Adolescent Health. Washington, DC: US Congress, 1991.

14.

Tesch

. Qualitative Research. London: Sage, 1990.

15.

Milio

. Making healthy public policy: learning the science by observing the art. An ecological model for policy studies. Health Promotion International 1988;2:35–54.

16.

Milio

. Nutrition Policy for Food-rich Countries. A Strategic Analysis. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990.

US Policy Support for Telehealth: Organizational Response to a New Policy Environment

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References