Hospitals are critical to health equity and community health, often serving as the primary point of care for many patients. \u00a0In the U.S., nearly two-thirds of all U.S. hospitals are tax-exempt, meaning they don\u2019t pay certain taxes due to their charitable nature. Because of this, they are required to give back to their community certain benefits to earn that exemption.<\/p>\n
With the passage of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act came certain obligations these hospitals were required to take. Key among these is the requirement for all nonprofit hospitals to undertake a triennial community health needs assessment (CHNA). In its simplest definition, a CHNA is a measurement of the relative health or well-being of any given community. It\u2019s both the activity and end-product of identifying and prioritizing a community\u2019s health needs. Once crafted, hospitals are required to develop an implementation strategy outlining how that hospital will address those unmet health needs.<\/p>\n
There is a tremendous opportunity to address the root causes of poor health through these CHNAs. By both best practice and law, hospitals must bring into consideration the thoughts and input of certain key stakeholders, including public health entities and those representing vulnerable populations. Hospitals are to both quantify and qualify the health issues in their community and identify the priorities they\u2019ll take on for the next three years. Once the plan is approved by the hospital\u2019s board, the hospital is then required to craft an implementation plan outlining how it will address those unmet health needs. This means that hospitals must be actively aware of the unmet health needs in their community and create a strategic plan to improve the health of everyone, including those most often facing barriers to care.<\/p>\n
In 2018, Fair Play founder and managing director Holly Lang partnered with Jessica Curtis, senior advisor for the Center for Consumer Engagement in Health Innovation at national nonprofit consumer advocacy group Community Catalyst to build the consumer and community leadership that is required to transform the American health system.<\/p>\n
The dashboard lays out an ideal state of activities, programs and governance for addressing the root causes of poor health in direct partnership with the communities most impacted by health disparities and injustice. It outlines five principles for hospital community benefit programs, and the array of program indicators within this dashboard exceed basic requirements found in the 2010 Affordable Care Act.<\/p>\n
The five principles are:<\/p>\n
Principle 1:<\/strong> Target neighborhoods and population groups experiencing health disparities and address the root causes of poor health, including structural injustice and social\/economic health determinants.<\/p>\n Principle 2:<\/strong> Center community engagement efforts on community residents who have long borne the brunt of health inequities and structural injustice and take steps to make their involvement in the community benefit process meaningful to them.<\/p>\n Principle 3:<\/strong> Adopt financial assistance and billing policies that promote economic security, build racial and gender wealth equity, and preserve access to care for low- and moderate-income community residents.<\/p>\n Principle 4:<\/strong> Invest in governance structures to ensure staff and programs have the internal resources and funding they need to effectively address community priorities.<\/p>\n Principle 5:<\/strong> Evaluate health equity and community engagement efforts and share findings with internal and community stakeholders.<\/p>\n This dashboard was developed to reflect the lived experiences and recommendations of community-based leaders, advocates and hospital leaders within our network who share our vision for using community benefit to achieve health equity. The methodology included an extensive literature review; a qualitative analysis of a convenient sample of hospital community health needs assessments (CHNAs); and interviews with hospital community benefit staff and community partners.<\/p>\n You can access the dashboard here<\/a> and read a case study on how three U.S. communities tackled health equity<\/a>. You can learn more about Community Catalyst here.<\/a><\/p>\n