Case study: Community health needs assessment and the patient protection and affordable care act

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been working to develop training material on public health ethics. We have found that use of cases is an effective approach for promoting discussion of complex ethical issues. This presentation will describe CDC's work to develop public health ethics cases and will present a case that CDC has developed in collaboration with the CDC Ethics Subcommittee of the Advisory Committee to the Director that examines some of the ethical implications of the new community health needs assessment (CHNA) requirements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). Time will be allotted for a discussion of the values, goals, and perspectives of the major stakeholders, an exploration of how these goals and perspectives may come into conflict and produce ethical tensions, and a discussion of how public health perspectives and ethical principles can provide guidance. This presentation will provide an opportunity for the audience to discuss the ethical implications of public health involvement in the CHNA process as well as to explore how the case can be used as a teaching tool.