Community Health Needs Assessment

Community Health Needs Assessment

Community Health Assessments

As the leading healthcare system in the community and region, it is important we play an active role in the overall goals and plans to improve the health of our community. We have many members of our staff involved in a collaborative team that develops and oversees the implementation and execution of our community health plans and assessments. Below is the most current plan for improvement, as well as historical resources. 

Previous Community Health Assessments

Over the first two quarters of 2019, there has been a process to analyze the CHNA data that was captured by the surveys. Hutchinson Regional Medical Center created a team of employees to develop a Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP). The team chose to start with the clinical issues and identified the first year of work would include Smoking Cessation, Chronic Conditions with a focus on Pulmonary, Opioid Prescribing in the hospital and Maternal Child Health in the last half of the year. The hospital team will be expanded to include the health clinics in the community, including Hutchinson Clinic, Prairie Star Health Care and The Summit Clinics in efforts to address the clinical issues of the CHNA.

For 2020-2021, HRMC focused on the following:

Reduce the Opioid Impact on Reno County

Grant was received for programming the HRMC EMR to abstract Opioid metrics. Each clinical facility in Hutchinson is developing abstraction methods to monitoring Opioid prescribing in their individual facilities. This will provide an overview of the prescribing habits, which will outline next steps in reducing the use of opioids in the community.

Increase the awareness of Smoking Cessation opportunities in Reno County

This Goal has multiple facets. We are addressing smoking cessation tools and programs. Some of the tools and programs have been available for many years. There are teams evaluating what is working well and what needs to be updated. We are working closely with the state KAN-Quit program to increase utilization of the program with patients and as an employee benefit for community employers. At HRMC we are developing methods to accurately identify every smoker so that everyone will benefit from the new programs and techniques that are offered. The Medical Center is also developing a Lung Tumor Clinic to proactively monitor nodules and get patients the treatment they need as soon as possible.

Provide resources for residents of Reno County that are living with a chronic illness

HRMC has chosen Congestive Heart Failure as our first disease to focus on. We are working on identifying the patient population and what needs that they have to be able to go home successfully and not be readmitted. Some of the tools being put in place are increased teaching at the bedside, a Community Care program that sees the patient for free in their home, and follow up calls by the Care Management staff that worked with them in the hospital. The Care Management staff are aware of the discharge plan and when they call they are able to ask questions to determine if the plan is working for the patient or if changes need to be made. If changes are needed they can be made immediately.

COVID-19 Response

The local healthcare community has been working more closely together than ever before in response to the pandemic. Regular meetings and discussions are being held to figure out the best and most efficient way to provide what is needed, and plan are in place to continue the collaboration into the post-pandemic era. This will help us to address community-wide issues of health.

The Reno County Health Council began planning for the 2016 CHIP in early 2015. The first step was to gather Reno County demographics and statistics compared to the rest of Kansas and the U.S. Next, the committee created a survey. The purpose of the survey was to get the public opinion about community health problems in Reno County. The council then used the results to identify the most pressing problems that can be addressed through community action. The council then presented a smaller survey to segmented groups in order narrow the focus and gather opinions from those of all ages. The ultimate goal was to identify three key health issues that can be influenced through community action.

Reno County Data – Reno County ’15 Survey – Key Health Issues Survey

From here, the committee hosted a community forum to present their findings and gather suggestions and ideas on how to resolve or better the communities’ key health issues and to put that in to a CHIP for 2016. The date for this was April 26th, 2016 at the Hutchinson Regional Medical Center Pavilion.

Through the Community Forum in April of 2016 and council meetings in May & June the committee was able to narrow the focus to two key health issues. The focus areas for Reno County will be obesity & mental health.

On July 6th the committee and various community leaders met to discuss and narrow down strategies that can be implemented to make progress on Reno Counties Obesity issue. The committee will convene to do the same for Reno Counties mental health issue. From here the Community Health Improvement Plan can begin to take shape.

Reno County Community Data Book 2016

In May of 2013 the Reno County Health Council released a Reno County Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP). After engaging in a year and a half of strategic planning, including a public survey in 2012, the team completed the Reno County Data Book and the Community Health Improvement Plan. Click on the documents below to view:

The Community Health Assessment data was both quantitative and qualitative. Input was gathered from residents through community forums, focus groups and over 2,000 respondents to an online and paper survey. Other assessments involved gathering data on the health status of the community and the workings of the local public health system, as well as an assessment of forces likely to impact the health of the public in the near future. Below is a slideshow of the plan in action and the outcomes.

Community Health Improvement Plan Slideshow & Outcomes 2013

Additional Community Health Resources

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