Community health needs assessments issue briefs (ASTHO)

(Delivering community benefit: Climate and health toolkit) (ASTHO) Community health needs assessments (CHNA) and implementation strategies are newly required of tax-exempt hospitals as a result of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. These assessments and strategies create an important opportunity to improve the health of communities. They ensure that hospitals have the information they need to provide community benefits that meet the needs of their communities. They also provide an opportunity to improve coordination of hospital community benefits with other efforts to improve community health. By statute, the CHNAs must take into account input from “persons who represent the broad interests of the community served by the hospital facility, including those with special knowledge of or expertise in public health.”