Dive Brief:
- Researchers say community benefit programs can improve population health, as well as helping nonprofits maintain that status.
- The researchers, from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, reviewed 106 scientific articles documenting how nonprofit hospitals adjusted their community benefit programs to maintain their tax exempt status.
- Among other conclusions, researchers found that 80% of the community-based programs included a community partner, which helped engage the community in the programs the hospitals were providing.
Dive Insight:
While the hospitals may be doing good work in the community, few rigorously evaluate the programs they run or otherwise provide evidence that they're working, researchers said. They recommend that hospitals work with public health professionals to design, implement and then evaluate the community benefit programs. That's a good way of creating programs which will improve the health of the people in the service area and, ultimately, help to support the hospital's nonprofit status.