- Primary Care Access (IHI)
- 5 Best Practices for Patient Transportation Services (Behavioral Health Executive)
- Improving Primary Care Practice (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality)
- Technology Meets Healthcare: Distance Learning and Telehealth (The Ochsner Journal)

Community Health Needs Assessments
A community health needs assessment describes the community a hospital serves and identifies the health needs of the population.
It involves a systematic collection and analysis of data to provide the necessary information for decision-making. In the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, passed in March 2010, nonprofit hospitals are mandated to conduct a CHNA every three years and adopt an implementation strategy to meet the community health needs identified in the assessment.
Top Health Issues
Identified by Missouri Hospitals and Community Health Resources
Missouri hospitals identified 14 priority health issues through the CHNA process. These health issues are highly prevalent and cause significant health burdens to Missouri residents. Resources to implement successful community programs to address the issues are featured below. Click on a topic to view resources.
- Asthma Interventions (The Community Guide)
- Preventing Asthma Episodes and Controlling Your Asthma (Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America)
- Investing in Best Practices for Asthma – A Business Case (Asthma Regional Council)
- National Asthma Control Initiative (National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute)
- Asthma Resources for Health Professionals and Schools (CDC)
- Improving Asthma Care for Children: Best Practices in Medicaid Managed Care Toolkit (Center for Health Care Strategies, Inc.)
- Cancer Interventions (The Community Guide)
- Cancer Prevention, Awareness and Early Diagnosis Strategy (Peninsula Cancer Network)
- Implementing Cancer Prevention Into Clinical Practice (Journal of Cancer Education)
- Cancer Implementation Tools (WHO)
- Cardiovascular Disease Interventions (The Community Guide)
- Reducing the Burden of Cardiovascular Disease: Intervention Approaches (Promoting Cardiovascular Health in the Developing World)
- A Public Health Action Plan to Prevent Heart Disease and Stroke (CDC)
- Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention (CDC)
- Public Policy Approaches to the Prevention of Heart Disease and Stroke (American Heart Association)
- Clinical Toolkit: Cardiovascular Disease Prevention (American College of Cardiology)
- Chronic Care Management (Institute for Healthcare Improvement)
- Improving Care for Chronic Conditions (America’s Health Insurance Plans Foundation)
- Disease Management Programs: Improving Health While Reducing Costs? (Georgetown University)
- How to Design a Successful Disease-Management Program (McKinsey & Company)
- Action for Dental Health: Access to Care (American Dental Association)
- Oral Health Care: Can Access to Services be Improved? (Health Policy Institute of Georgetown University)
- Improving Dental Care Access in Rural America (The PEW Charitable Trusts)
- Diabetes Interventions (The Community Guide)
- Best Practices for Diabetes Prevention (American Public Health Association)
- Beating Type 2 Diabetes: Best Practices for States (Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation of Harvard Law School)
- National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)
- 8 Ways to Improve Health Literacy (IHI)
- Health Literacy: Challenges and Strategies (American Nurses Association)
- Mental Health Interventions (The Community Guide)
- Behavioral Health (IHI)
- Mental Health Treatment Evidence-Bases Practices (SAMHSA)
- Improving Community-Based Mental Health Care for Children: Translating Knowledge Into Action (Journal of Administration and Policy in Mental Health)
- Recommended Community Strategies and Measurements to Prevent Obesity in the United States (CDC)
- Physical Activity Interventions (The Community Guide)
- Population-based approaches to Childhood Obesity Prevention (World Health Organization)
- Primary Prevention of Childhood Obesity Best Practice Guidelines (Registered Nurses Association of Ontario)
- Community Efforts to Prevent Obesity (CDC)
- Tobacco Interventions (The Community Guide)
- Best Practices for Smoking Cessation Interventions in Primary Care (Canadian Respiratory Journal)
- Cessation Interventions (CDC)
- Tobacco Cessation Works: An Overview of Best Practices and State Experiences (Tobacco Free Kids)
- What can State Tobacco Control Programs do? (CDC)
- Tobacco Free Initiative: Policy Recommendations for Smoking Cessation and Treatment of Tobacco Dependence (WHO)
- Substance Abuse Prevention Evidence-Based Practices (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)
- Evidence-Based Practices in Addiction Treatment: Review and Recommendations for Public Policy (Journal of Health Policy)
- Plan and Implement a Program (SAMHSA)
- Preventing Drug Abuse: The Best Strategy (National Institute on Drug Abuse)
- Seeking Best Practices: A Conceptual Framework for Planning and Improving Evidence-Based Practices (Preventing Chronic Disease)
- How to Increase Preventive Screening Rates in Practice (American Cancer Society)
- Improving Prevention Screenings (Health Net Federal Services)
- Rural Wellness and Prevention (Rural Health Information Hub)
- Rural Wellness and Prevention Models and Innovations (Rural Health Information Hub)
- College Guidance on Annual Women’s Health Care (American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists)
- Improving Women’s Health Challenges, Access and Prevention (National Conference of State Legislatures)
- Women’s Health Priorities and Interventions (BMJ)
Implementation
A CHNA Implementation Plan is a systematic process involving the community that identifies and analyzes community health needs, as well as community assets and resources, to plan and act upon priority community health needs. This plan is used by health and other governmental education and human service agencies, in collaboration with community partners, to set priorities and target resources. It is critical for developing policies and defining actions to target efforts that promote health.
The implementation plan should define the vision for the health of the community through a collaborative process, and should address the gamut of strengths, weaknesses, challenges, and opportunities that exist to improve the health status of the community. Provisions under Section 501(r), added to the code by the ACA, imposes requirements on 501(c)(3) organizations that operate one or more hospital facilities (hospital organizations). These hospitals must now conduct a CHNA and adopt an implementation strategy that meets the needs identified at least once every three years. The CHNA requirements are effective for tax years beginning after March 23, 2012. In addition, hospitals must complete an IRS Schedule H (Form 990) annually to provide information on the activities and policies of, and community benefit provided by, the hospital. The implementation plan should be updated as community needs and priorities change, hospital resources change or based on evaluation results.
Contact An Expert

Stephen Njenga
For hospitals needing additional services, such as primary and secondary data collection and analysis, facilitation of community input, survey design, writing the assessment, and development of an implementation plan, customized services are available through Quality Works, a subsidiary of MHA. CHNA support services are affordable, flexible and adapted to your needs. Prices range from hourly rates to package pricing.
The exploreMOhealth website is one of the most unique health-related datasets in the country, offering both county- and ZIP code-level data. Data is the key to diagnosing and addressing some of our region’s most pressing health issues, and by making this information available to the public, both organizations are furthering their missions to improve health and the health care system.