The CHNA Requirement
Under Section 501(r) of the Internal Revenue Code, tax-exempt hospitals must conduct a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) at least once every three years. This isn't just a compliance checkbox—it's an opportunity to genuinely understand and address the health needs of your community.
But traditional CHNA processes are slow, expensive, and often fail to capture input from the populations that need healthcare the most. Town halls attract the usual voices. Focus groups are limited in scope. And the timeline? Six to twelve months is common.
The Traditional Approach: What's Broken
Limited Representation
Town halls and in-person focus groups systematically exclude working families, caregivers, and those with transportation barriers.
Language Barriers
Hiring interpreters for every community language is cost-prohibitive, leaving non-English speakers underrepresented.
Scheduling Challenges
Business-hours-only research excludes shift workers and those with inflexible schedules.
Analysis Bottlenecks
Transcribing and coding qualitative data manually adds weeks to the timeline.
A Modern Approach: AI-Moderated Community Input
AI-moderated interviews, powered by platforms like Qualz.AI through Blue Lens Research, offer a fundamentally different approach:
24/7 Availability
Community members participate when it works for them—early morning, late night, weekends.
50+ Languages
Real-time AI translation means every community member can participate in their preferred language.
Deep Qualitative Data
AI moderators ask follow-up questions, probe for specifics, and capture nuance that surveys miss.
Automatic Analysis
Themes are identified in real-time. No manual transcription or coding required.
The 6-Week CHNA Timeline
Here's how a modern CHNA process can compress a 6-12 month timeline into 6 weeks:
Design & Launch
Configure interview guides, set up demographic screening, begin community outreach.
Community Interviews
AI-moderated interviews run 24/7. Partner with community organizations for distribution.
Analysis & Synthesis
Review AI-generated theme analysis. Validate findings with stakeholder input.
Reporting
Generate IRS-ready documentation. Prepare board presentation and implementation strategy.
Reaching Underserved Populations
The IRS specifically requires input from “persons who represent the broad interests of the community served by the hospital facility, including those with special knowledge of or expertise in public health.” This explicitly includes underserved, low-income, and minority populations.
AI-moderated interviews make this achievable by removing traditional barriers to participation. Our clients report 3-5x higher participation from historically underrepresented groups compared to traditional methods.
IRS Compliance Considerations
A compliant CHNA must include:
- A description of the community served
- A description of the process and methods used to conduct the assessment
- A description of how the hospital took into account input from community members
- A prioritized list of community health needs
- A description of resources potentially available to address those needs
Blue Lens Research automatically generates documentation formatted for Form 990 Schedule H, including methodology descriptions, community input summaries, and prioritized health needs—all directly from your interview data.
Your next CHNA deadline approaching?
Learn how Blue Lens Research can help you complete a comprehensive CHNA in 6 weeks.
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