University of Georgia

Leveraging Implementation of the Affordable Care Act to Advance Community Health in Georgia

By Elizabeth Fite

heart with stethoscopeIndividuals who need health coverage are not the only ones affected by implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In addition to the 541,080 Georgians who signed up for insurance during the latest open enrollment period, health care providers, hospitals and communities are also feeling its effects.

Nonprofit hospitals are now required to conduct a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) every three years. Ideally, the results will enable communities to judge whether these hospitals — which are exempt from taxes — are delivering enough health benefits to the community they serve.

“There weren’t a lot of people thrilled about the Affordable Care Act to begin with, and then there’s also the case that it has placed an additional requirement on our hospitals,” said Fenwick Broyard, executive director of Community Connection of Northeast Georgia. His organization contracted with the two hospitals in Athens to study health needs in the 17 counties they serve.

“Hospitals have a choice as to whether or not to view this as an obligation or an opportunity,” Broyard said.

Beth Stephens of Georgia Watch reviewed CHNAs from 38 hospitals across Georgia, and she saw substantial variation in the quality of the assessments. Although some were thorough and well executed, others had shortcomings, such as failing to gather information from vulnerable populations, said Stephens, health access program director for the public interest watchdog group.

The Athens hospitals made a special effort to gather input from people whose voices often go unheard in policy debates, Broyard said. The two institutions worked well together despite being in competition with each other, he said, and saw the needs assessment as an opportunity to better serve the community.

Future CHNAs could be improved by greater collaboration between hospitals and health departments, which are valuable sources of public health expertise, said Reinetta Waldrop, an assistant professor in community health and preventive medicine at Morehouse School of Medicine.

“Hospitals are required to collaborate with public health and community-based groups to address these community health needs,” Stephens said. “Right now is a great time to reach out and get engaged with your hospital in that next CHNA process and also volunteer to be an active participant in that assessment process and share your insight.”

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