A Case for Public-Private Partnerships in Health: Lessons From an Honest Broker

Collaboration between the private and public sectors has produced mixed results. Some initiatives seem better suited to this model. For example, partnerships in national defense and space exploration have produced benefits to both sectors, although not without some controversy. Conversely, with issues such as education and health, the road to success has been much rockier. As an honest broker who has worked effectively to bridge the public and private worlds, I have come to understand the barriers to successful collaboration through my work with Fortune 500 companies, large foundations, small nonprofit organizations, and state and federal governments. In this essay, I explore these barriers and cite examples showing when they were successfully bridged through work with organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.