Planning for community benefit. A seven-step process helps providers define and address important needs

The Catholic Health Association's (CHA's) Standards for Community Benefit ask Catholic healthcare organizations to show their commitment to addressing community needs. The standards call on providers to stress the importance of community service in a variety of contexts--from their statements of philosophy and values to the decisions made in their board and executive staff meetings. At the heart of the Standards for Community Benefit is the requirement that an organization's governing body adopt a community benefit plan. The community benefit plan can help orient staff, physicians, and volunteers to the facility's charitable role. A provider can also use a completed plan to elicit community members' views on the organization's interpretation of community needs, its priorities, and performance. Not-for-profit healthcare organizations can prepare a community benefit plan by completing the following steps: Restate the organization's mission and commitment Define the community being served Identify unmet community needs Determine and describe the organization's leadership role Determine and describe the organization's community service role Seek public comment on the plan Prepare a formal, written community benefit plan.