HEA previews new research on community benefit from University of Michigan researchers Dr. Cherie Conley and Dr. Simone Singh that explores the breadth of hospitals' initiatives impacting their communities not always captured in IRS reporting. Review the session recording to learn how health systems are measuring and tracking this work across the country and recommendations for advancing the community benefit narrative.
Click the "download pdf" button to access the roundtable slides.
Key Takeaways
Health systems engage in a variety of diverse activities that benefit communities. Most are challenged with showing clinical outcomes and improvements in disparities due to difficulty tracking program outcomes, especially when participants may not be patients of the health system.
The current IRS Form 990 and Schedule H provide only limited insights into hospitals' investments & commitment to social determinants of health (SDOH). Quantifying impact attributed to specific programs within the rigidly defined community benefit framework remains a key challenge.
Hospitals use a variety of approaches outside of IRS Form 990 and Schedule H to communicate their contributions to community health. Most interviewees agreed that it would not be worth it to revamp IRS Form 990s. Instead, they are looking for ways to gather community data and amplify their impact through public communications (e.g., impact reports, fact sheets, social media).