CHNAFinder Website FAQs

CHNAFinder

What is CHNAFinder?

With funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the AHA developed CHNAFinder, a central database of CHNAs. CHNAFinder website has a map-based tool that is accessible for AHA members only. Through CHNAFinder, we want to help connect hospitals – and their community partners – with other hospitals and health systems working to address similar community health issues. We think this is a great way to accomplish that.

Why was CHNAFinder developed?

All nonprofit hospitals in the U.S. are conducting and publishing CHNAs, yet there is no single location where all CHNAs reside. To change that, we developed this repository to house all available CHNAs and make them searchable. We want to make it easy for you to find other hospitals and health systems that you can learn from or potentially partner with.

Will my CHNA document be on the website?

No, there will not be a PDF of your organization’s CHNA on the website. Our team extracted information from each CHNA that is featured in a brief profile of each hospital and health system. The profile includes a link to the hospital or health system website for anyone who wants to read the full CHNA report. The CHNAs in the website database were completed in the 2012–2016 cycle.

What information will be extracted from CHNAs?

We are most interested in which community health needs your hospital and health system prioritized and with whom you partnered. We did NOT extract any data on community health statistics. Priority needs were put in categories that our team felt best represented each hospital’s selection. If you believe that your organization’s priority needs were miscategorized, you can contact us at chnafinder@aha.org.

What information about my hospital is on the CHNAFinder website?

• CHNA priority needs
• Hospital demographics (e.g., size, location, type)
• Link to complete CHNA document

Is my CHNA data still useful if I’m from a specialty hospital?

Yes! We are interested in your organization’s priorities. By using CHNAFinder, you can see the community health needs that other specialty hospitals are prioritizing.

What does the website look like?

This website features a map-based tool. You will be able to switch between two versions of the map and filter information by several categories including location, hospital type, size or community health need prioritized. This will enable you to search for hospitals like yours or those located nearby.

How will the website be updated?

We need your help to keep CHNAFinder updated. You can now submit your CHNA findings directly on CHNAFinder. Fill out the form here.

AHA’s Annual Survey also includes questions about your organization’s prioritized community health needs. This information will be fed into the database. If you notice that your CHNA priorities are out of date, please submit the most recent CHNA findings here.

Contact chnafinder@aha.org with any questions or concerns.

Who is funding this project?

This project is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Download the FAQs and User Guide Below.