Linking population health and health administration through community health needs assessments

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) requires that all state-licensed 501(c)(3) hospitals complete a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) . The CHNA must include input from persons representing the broad interests of the community (i.e., community stakeholders), including those with expertise in public health, and must yield prioritized health needs. (IRS Notice 2011-52).  The CHNA requirement offers a new opportunity to bridge the interests of population health and the administration and delivery of health services on the part of hospitals and health systems. This presentation offers models of best practices for CHNAs  based on an aggregate review of CHNAs for hospitals and healthcare systems conducted by a health industry market research firm which has been conducting CHNAs since 1994. The recommendations or best practices for CHNAs is based on a systematic, data-driven approach to understanding the health status, behavior and needs of residents in a defined community. The overall goal is to inform decisions and guide efforts to improve community health and wellness. The objectives to reach this goal include: improve residents’ health status; increase residents’ life spans; elevate residents’ overall quality of life; reduce health disparities; and increase accessibility to preventive services for all. This is done through a CHNA that includes primary data (through a survey given to a random sample of community members), collection of secondary data (state and local health department) and input from community stakeholders. The presentation will focus on how the best practice models for CHNAs strengthen the linkages between population health, the administration and delivery of health services, and the involvement of the community in establishing community health priorities.