Berkeley Franz1, Cory E Cronin, Simone Singh. 1. Departments of Social Medicine, Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine (Dr Franz) and Social and Public Health, College of Health Sciences and Professions (Dr Cronin), Ohio University, Athens, Ohio; and School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan (Dr Singh).
Abstract
CONTEXT: Virtually all nonprofit hospitals are in compliance with the Affordable Care Act's new Community Health Needs Assessments requirements. OBJECTIVE: To assess what needs have emerged in the Community Health Needs Assessments hospitals complete nationally, the degree to which identified needs reflect the most pressing community health issues, and the extent to which hospitals address identified needs. DESIGN: Using both bivariate and logistic regressions, we analyzed the Community Health Needs Assessments and implementation strategies of nonprofit hospitals to determine whether identified needs overlapped with county health-ranking indicators of need and whether institutional or community-level factors predicted hospital willingness to address identified needs. PARTICIPANTS: We included a 20% random sample of US nonprofit hospitals (n = 496). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Our main outcome measures were whether nonprofit hospitals addressed each of the most common needs. RESULTS: Mental health, access to care, obesity, substance abuse, diabetes, cancer, and the social determinants of health were the most commonly identified needs across the sample. The rate at which hospitals chose to address each of these needs in their implementation strategies, however, varied considerably, ranging from 56% (cancer) to 85% (obesity). We found that several institutional and community characteristics predicted hospital willingness to address each need; whether the community ranked a need as number 1 was a better predictor of hospital investment than the severity of the need, as measured by county health-rankings data. CONCLUSIONS: These findings may help inform local, state, and federal policy makers as they consider interventions aimed at encouraging hospitals to invest in improving the health of their communities.
CONTEXT: Virtually all nonprofit hospitals are in compliance with the Affordable Care Act's new Community Health Needs Assessments requirements. OBJECTIVE: To assess what needs have emerged in the Community Health Needs Assessments hospitals complete nationally, the degree to which identified needs reflect the most pressing community health issues, and the extent to which hospitals address identified needs. DESIGN: Using both bivariate and logistic regressions, we analyzed the Community Health Needs Assessments and implementation strategies of nonprofit hospitals to determine whether identified needs overlapped with county health-ranking indicators of need and whether institutional or community-level factors predicted hospital willingness to address identified needs. PARTICIPANTS: We included a 20% random sample of US nonprofit hospitals (n = 496). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Our main outcome measures were whether nonprofit hospitals addressed each of the most common needs. RESULTS: Mental health, access to care, obesity, substance abuse, diabetes, cancer, and the social determinants of health were the most commonly identified needs across the sample. The rate at which hospitals chose to address each of these needs in their implementation strategies, however, varied considerably, ranging from 56% (cancer) to 85% (obesity). We found that several institutional and community characteristics predicted hospital willingness to address each need; whether the community ranked a need as number 1 was a better predictor of hospital investment than the severity of the need, as measured by county health-rankings data. CONCLUSIONS: These findings may help inform local, state, and federal policy makers as they consider interventions aimed at encouraging hospitals to invest in improving the health of their communities.