Objectives: We identified the levels of joint action that led to collaboration between hospitals and local health departments (LHDs) using the hospital's community health needs assessments (CHNAs).
Methods: In 2014, we conducted a content analysis of Missouri nonprofit hospitals (n = 34) CHNAs, and identified hospitals based on previously reported collaboration with LHDs. We coded the content according to the level of joint action. A comparison sample (n = 50) of Missouri nonprofit hospitals provided the basic comparative information on hospital characteristics.
Results: Among the hospitals identified by LHDs, 20.6% were "networking," 20.6% were "coordinating," 38.2% were "cooperating," and 2.9% were "collaborating." Almost 18% of study hospitals had no identifiable level of joint action with LHDs based on their CHNAs. In addition, comparison hospitals were more often part of a larger system (74%) compared with study hospitals (52.9%).
Conclusions: The results of our study helped develop a better understanding of levels of joint action from a hospital perspective. Our results might assist hospitals and LHDs in making more informed decisions about efficient deployment of resources for assessment processes and implementation plans.