Together for health: introducing the International Foundation for Integrated Care

Integrated care is now a recognized paradigm for health care reforms around the globe. The need to address the problem of fragmented systems of care that undermine the performance of health care systems and result in poor quality care and outcomes to people has become a key policy ambition in many countries and regions. For example, in the Americas, resolutions have been passed in support of integrated health services delivery networks to address the adverse consequences of health service fragmentation [1]. Incoming governments in England, Belgium and the Netherlands have strongly promoted integrated care as a central theme in their health reform agendas (e.g. [2]). In the USA, the Affordable Care Act and the subsequent piloting of Accountable Care Organisations has sought to promote care co-ordination as well as boost health care coverage [3]. Specific agencies have even been developed, such as the Agency for Integrated Care in Singapore, tasked with developing and implementing its national agenda for integrated care [4].