The RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis has released a new policy brief Partnerships to Address Social Needs across Metropolitan and Non-Metropolitan Prospective Payment System Hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals
Purpose
Partnerships between hospitals and other organizations, such as public health departments and social service organizations, are essential to address monumental challenges like managing pandemics, improving patient outcomes, meeting patients’ social needs, and successfully moving from volume-to-value models in health care.
The purpose of this brief is to examine how the number and types of partnerships with community based organizations (e.g., local public health groups, faith-based organizations, K-12 schools) vary across non-metropolitan and metropolitan hospitals and by hospital type (Prospective Payment System [PPS] vs. critical access hospital [CAH]), region, ownership status, and Accountable Care Organization (ACO) participation.
Key Findings
- The highest mean community partnership scores were seen in metropolitan PPS
hospitals (24.0), followed by non-metropolitan PPS hospitals (20.4) and CAHs
(16.8). - Except for non-metropolitan PPS hospitals in the West, the Northeast had the
highest mean partnerships across hospital types. - Regardless of geography or type (CAH or PPS), non-profit hospitals and those
participating in ACOs had higher mean partnership scores. - Most hospitals had partnerships with state and local agencies, though compared to
other types of hospitals, a higher proportion of metropolitan PPS hospitals had
partnerships with organizations that address specific social needs (e.g., food
insecurity).
This brief is authored by Whitney E. Zahnd, PhD; Khyathi Gadag, MHA; Kristin D. Wilson, PhD, MHA; Keith J. Mueller, PhD.
