Hospital Investment and Interaction in Public Health Systems

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) creates new requirements for nonprofit hospitals to assess community health needs and develop implementation plans for local public health priorities. University of Colorado Denver investigators seek to inform community strategies to increase hospitals’ involvement in public health systems by examining hospital investments and interactions with other public health organizations in their communities. Investigators will study the association between hospital indicators, such as size and strength of relationships with other organizations, with two outcomes: 1) hospital interactions in their communities using the investigator’s PARTNER survey data on partnerships between hospitals and public health, and 2) hospital community benefit investments reported on IRS 990 and Schedule H forms. Initially, the study will employ a Delphi technique with practice and research experts to hypothesize hospital indicators, and then obtain data on the identified indicators. The study’s translation tool will enable other communities to use an interactive registry of indicator and outcome measures to design their hospital-public health integration strategies. Partners involved in the study are Colorado School of Public Health, Colorado Association of Local Public Health Officials, and Colorado Public Health Practice Based Research Network.