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Your Voice Matters

About the Community Health Needs Assessment


The Why
As part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), all non-profit hospitals are required to conduct a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) every three years and to develop corresponding improvement strategies. To elevate the effectiveness of the CHNA in the hospital and in the community, hospitals and health systems need to thoroughly engage patients, families and community members in the CHNA process.

The Who
The Steering Committee must select a Community Advisory Committee (CAC) based off of the health system's primary service area. The primary service area is identified as counties representing 10% or more of health system volume for a given fiscal year. The CAC should represent the "C" in CHNA based off of the primary service area's demographics.

The How
The CHNA process is made up of five phases, as mandated by the ACA:
     1. Engage the Community
     2. Define the Issues
     3. Establish Community Priorities
     4. Strategic Intervention
     5. Evaluate Impact

The How: Data Collection
Primary Data: Community Survey and Focus Groups
Secondary Data: US Census Bureau statistics for primary service area, Truven Health Analytics, BCHSI Health Information medical records

The When
     August 2018 - Steering Committee Meeting 1 of 2
     September 2018 - CHNA Media Promotion and Survey Distribution and Collection Begins
     September 2018 - Community Advisory Committee Meeting 1 of 3
     October 2018 - Community Advisory Committee Meeting 2 of 3
     November 2018 - CHNA Media Promotion and Survey Distribution and Collection Ends
     December 2018 - Community Advisory Committee Meeting 3 of 3
     January 2019 - Steering Committee Meeting 2 of 2
     February 2019 - BCHSI Board Presentation (preliminary)
     March 2019 - BCHSI Board Presentation (acceptance)
     June 2019 - Submit CHNA to IRS

Contact Us

Randall O'Brien, MD, MPH
Email Dr. O'Brien
Kyle Southerland
Email Kyle