Hospital Accountability Project

The Hospital Accountability Project helps community-based organizations, consumer advocates and others working with vulnerable communities to analyze hospital and public policies on financial assistance (charity care), billing and debt collection, and community benefit. We help these groups develop effective strategies for engaging hospitals, public health leaders, strategic allies, and policymakers on areas ripe for change and lift up promising practices that address ongoing barriers to care and promote community engagement for vulnerable populations.

Hospitals play vital roles in their communities as health care providers, employers, major purchasers of goods and services, and powerful stakeholders with vested interests in public policy development at all levels of government. Because of this, they can be critical partners and allies in moving policy initiatives that improve access to care and create the conditions that are necessary for thriving, healthy communities.

So, how can consumer advocates and community organizations work more effectively with hospitals? What is the right response when hospitals erect barriers to care, seem disinterested in the community’s priorities, or actively oppose community-identified solutions to problems? Conversely, how can we learn from innovative hospitals that actively engage and help to build stronger communities so that these stories become the rule, rather than the exception? The Hospital Accountability Project helps community organizations, advocates and others answer these questions. Our current priorities include:

• Ensuring that community members and partners—particularly those from or representing vulnerable populations—have a strong voice and receive the support they need to participate in the hospital efforts to identify and address community health issues
• Building community knowledge and capacity to partner effectively with hospitals, public health and other allies
• Increasing transparency in hospital reporting so that communities can evaluate how hospitals invest in improving community health and access to care
• Improving hospital billing and collections practices to alleviate medical debt for low- and middle-income families
• Identifying opportunities to collaborate with leading community, hospital and public health leaders and organizations to identify the “next generation” of community benefit work

We do this through a variety of approaches:

• Tracking and analyzing developments in state and federal policy
• Developing model legislation and commentary on community benefit and financial assistance practices
• Creating opportunities for local and state organizations to weigh in with policymakers on what communities need
• Providing tools and resource kits that community groups, advocates and others can tailor to help community members and leaders assess the needs and strengths of their communities
• Developing strategies for building effective partnerships with hospitals to get results when policies and practices need to change
• Connecting community leaders around the country so they can learn from each other’s work. Whenever possible, we collaborate with hospitals and public health leaders to identify best practices and support community engagement in these important programs