In 2011, the Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) for tax-exempt hospitals as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) became an IRS requirement. The CHNA must be updated every three years. So, while the final regulations weren’t published until 2014, most hospitals have been through at least two iterations of CHNA development.
The regulations require input from members of the community served who are knowledgeable about and represent the interests of the community served. A key interpretation of this concept is that input must be obtained from at least one state, local, tribal, or regional governmental public health department and/or members of the medically underserved, low-income, and minority populations in the community, or individuals or organizations serving or representing the interests of such populations.