title: Building community while complying with the Affordable Care Act in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires nonprofit hospitals to conduct community health needs assessments (CHNA) every 3 years. Best practices for CHNAs are still emerging and, along with growing economic pressures, contribute to uncertainty about the short- and long-term costs hospitals will face as a result of the ACA.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This article describes a community-based partnership coordinated by a nonprofit hospital and a consortium of academic institutions as a model for conducting a CHNA.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Similar partnerships offer key advantages in complying with the ACA: local academic institutions are existing stakeholders in the community--they possess research expertise and have a vested interested in shaping implementation strategies to improve health; the process of collaborating itself helps to generate community resources, conceive of community health as a shared and iterative enterprise, and mobilize community partners in supporting long-term health priorities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  No CHNA is ever perfect, but there are compelling reasons for nonprofit hospitals to seek community-based partnerships, not only because such partnerships comply with the law but, more importantly, because they hold great promise for linking the CHNA process and results to the health realities of local communities, ultimately bolstering community engagement while creating shared health priorities.
authors.forename: A Lanethea
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Mathews
authors.forename: Bonnie S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Coyle
authors.forename: Michele Moser
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Deegan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D055812:Community-Based Participatory Research; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D005260:Female; D033161:Government Regulation; D006304:Health Status; D006788:Hospitals, Voluntary / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020380:Needs Assessment / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000458:organization & administration*; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D058991:Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; D010414:Pennsylvania