How to Choose a CHNA Partner: 6 Questions to Ask
Not every CHNA partner brings the same depth to the process. Before you sign on with one, here are the questions worth asking directly.
1. How do they balance primary and secondary data?
A CHNA built mostly from Census and CDC data is faster and cheaper, but it risks missing what your community actually says it needs. Ask how much weight the partner puts on primary data collection, such as surveys, interviews, and focus groups, versus relying on existing public datasets alone.
2. Do they have experience with your specific hospital type?
A CHNA for a large urban health system and a CHNA for a critical access hospital aren’t the same project. Ask whether the partner has specific experience with hospitals your size and type, and whether their approach flexes accordingly or is one-size-fits-all.
3. How do they handle social determinants of health?
Health outcomes are shaped as much by housing, transportation, food access, and economic stability as by clinical care. Ask how the partner’s methodology captures social determinants of health, not just traditional clinical needs, and how that data gets reflected in the final priorities.
4. Can they reach underserved populations, not just easy-to-survey ones?
The populations with the greatest health needs are often the hardest to reach through standard mail or phone outreach. Ask what strategies the partner uses to reach underserved and hard-to-reach community members, rather than defaulting to whoever responds easiest.
5. What happens after the report is written?
A CHNA report that sits in a drawer after board approval hasn’t done its job. Ask whether the partner helps translate findings into an actionable Implementation Strategy, and whether they offer tools to track progress against it over the three-year cycle.
6. Do they understand the compliance requirements, not just the research?
CHNAs exist because of a specific IRS requirement under Section 501(r)(3) for tax-exempt hospitals. Ask whether the partner’s team understands those compliance requirements in detail, or whether you’ll need a separate compliance review layered on top of their research.
The Bottom Line
The research methodology matters, but so does whether a partner actually understands why hospitals are required to do this in the first place, and what a board, an IRS reviewer, and a community member will each expect to see in the final report. A partner who can speak to all three tends to save you from redoing work later.
