Hospital Community Health Needs Index (HCHNI)
Cal Healthcare Compare’s Hospital Community Health Needs Index (HCHNI) is an interactive mapping tool that is now accessible to California hospitals and health plans. This tool can help guide organizations to identify neighborhoods and their social conditions that most impact health outcomes.
Background on the HCHNI
The HCHNI was derived from the Healthy Places Index, developed by the Public Health Alliance of Southern California to advance health equity through open and accessible data. The Healthy Places Index maps neighborhood-by-neighborhood data on social conditions that drive health — like education, job opportunities, clean air and water, and other indicators that are positively associated with life expectancy at birth. Community leaders and other stakeholders use the HPI to compare the health and well-being of communities, identify health inequities and the factors that most contribute to health outcomes. Healthy places index scores are published on 25 component measures from 8 domains: Economic, Housing, Education, Healthcare Access, Neighborhood, Clean Air, Social & Transportation. The healthier a community, the higher the HPI score.
How can a hospital benefit from utilizing the HCHNI via Cal Healthcare Compare?
Cal Healthcare Compare launched the HCHNI for paid subscribers who would like to explore in more detail the equity and geographic dimensions of hospital market share and hospital health outcomes. Users can search by hospital name to retrieve data and metrics under hospital service areas and admissions to better learn about specific neighborhoods and patient populations. Viewing this data can help identify opportunities for interventions in the community and help drive change related to equity, social needs and continuity of care.
How can hospitals access the HCHNI?
● Access to the hospital and neighborhood specific data are available by subscribing to an annual membership.