Evaluating the impact on public policy of foundation-sponsored programs inthe health professions

The leaders of national philanthropic foundations have long been active in informing public policy makers about their organizations' accomplishments a nd lessons learned in health care and other issues. The public policy conte xt also is seen increasingly as an important factor influencing changes in the health care market. This article outlines how public policy,cas monitor ed and evaluated in a recent initiative in health care by a prominent natio nal foundation. The markers of policy change in the evaluation of this init iative represented a mixture of the initiative's efforts to inform policy m akers, the success the participant projects had in making policy makers awa re of the initiative's goals, and actual changes in policy outcomes. (C) 19 99 Sage Publications, Inc.