Dive Brief:
- A survey by the American Hospital Association suggests population health initiatives are contributing toward increased collaboration between hospitals and community partners.
- The nationwide survey received about 1,400 responses from hospitals and healthcare systems on the structure of their population health initiatives, their partnerships with community organizations, and how they assess their community's health needs.
- Eighty-seven percent of hospitals report working with other hospitals and 69% report participation in a community-wide coalition to advance population health objectives.
Dive Insight:
The survey was conducted by the AHA's Health Research & Educational Trust and the Association for Community Health Improvement in partnership with the Public Health Institute to assess population health efforts in 2015.
Among the survey's key findings were that 85% of the responding hospitals reported they have a "strong or total commitment to population health" or include population health in their institution's vision statement. More than 90% agreed or strongly agreed that population health aligns with their mission. However, only 19% strongly agreed that their hospital has the financial resources for such efforts, and less that 20% strongly agreed that their hospital is working to address socioeconomic determinants of health.
The survey found that hospitals' most common community partnerships were with public health departments, chambers of commerce, health insurance companies and FQHCs/community clinics.