Nearly nine of 10 hospitals and systems are engaged in community health improvement activities, and the degree of managed-c are penetration in their area seems to have little effect on those efforts. Those are two key results of a recent survey of 336 members of VHA, an Irving, Texas-based hospital alliance.
About 85 percent of responding organizations said they had conducted or are conducting a community health assessment. And 93 percent listed mission and values as the main reasons for their efforts. Payer demands, the desire to decrease the cost of uncompensated care and the need to maintain tax-exempt status also were identified as motivators. (VHA, 972-830-0000)