Reference no: EM134005955

Case Study

It was time for Southern General Hospital (SGH) to complete the community health needs assessment (CHNA) mandated by the Affordable Care Act. The midsized hospital's research staff was concerned that the traditional approach to health needs assessment was no longer appropriate, given the changing healthcare environment and nature of health conditions that SGH was currently facing. SGH staff pushed for a transition from the traditional CHNA approach to one that took the form of a population health assessment (PHA). This transition involved a number of significant changes in the approach taken and the types of data collected and analyzed. The PHA involved a different way of defining and assessing health status, a consideration of various health conditions not typically addressed by the hospital (e.g., behavioral health, obesity, domestic violence), a greater focus on social determinants of health (e.g., housing instability, food insecurity, environmental threats), and reduced focus on the role of the healthcare system in improving community health.

After reviewing the preceding case, address the following points:

1. What approach did SGH historically take to develop a CHNA?

2. Why did SGH staff feel that a different approach was required?

3. What developments suggested that a PHA might be more effective than the traditional approach?

4. In what ways did the PHA approach place a greater emphasis on the general consumer population than on SGH's existing patient base?

5. What factors might be considered for the PHA that were not included in the traditional CHNA approach?