The “Moving Massachusetts Upstream” (MassUP) initiative is a partnership across Massachusetts state agencies including the HPC, the Department of Public Health (DPH), the Office of the Attorney General, the Executive Office of Elder Affairs, and the Executive Office of Health and Human Services.

The vision of the MassUP initiative is better health, lower costs and reduced health inequities in Massachusetts through effective collaboration among government, health care systems, and communities. MassUP includes two distinct but complementary work streams: an investment program, and a state-level interagency policy alignment working group.

Through the MassUP investment program, the HPC and DPH intend to support partnerships that include health care organizations and community-based organizations working together to address upstream (i.e., social, environmental, and economic) challenges and enable sustainable improvements in community health and health equity.  While many provider organizations are currently focusing on population health activities, often addressing health-related social needs (HRSNs) for their patients, the MassUP investment program is intended to create a community-focused, -informed, and -engaged partnership that addresses the underlying causes creating those HRSNs.

The second work stream, focusing on interagency policy alignment, is an effort of the MassUP state agencies to proactively work toward alleviating policy barriers to addressing the SDoH in the Commonwealth. The state agencies have established a policy alignment working group to facilitate coordinated interagency action.

For more information, please visit the MassUP webpage on Mass.gov.