Reporting community benefits

Healthcare organizations increasingly are coming under community and legislative pressure to define and quantify their charity care and community benefits. The results of a survey suggest that healthcare providers are engaged in some of these activities, but that more healthcare organizations need to implement them. Some of the strategies providers can employ are adopting and communicating mission statements, setting goals for the amount and types of charity care and community benefits to be provided, gathering data to support the achievement of those goals, and forming or joining community health boards.