The Catholic Health Association has announced that its revised guidelines released in May for planning, measuring, and documenting community benefits have been formally accepted by 95% of its member health systems and 90% of the member hospitals to date. Sister Carol Keehan, CHA president and CEO, has worked with U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, to improve and standardize how not-for-profit hospitals count and report community benefits. Grassley said he would be “urging other hospitals” to use CHA’s guidelines as a template because “I think this is an honest approach” and provides accurate reporting. CHA worked closely with HFMA and the hospital alliance VHA Inc. to develop the revised guidelines. Sister Keehan will be educating senators about the new guidelines during a Finance Committee hearing on Sept. 13.
