Hospitals in pursuit of excellence

Next Generation of Community Health

The next generation of community health will serve as the foundation for total population health. The intersection of community health, population health and population health management – managing the health of a specific patient or clinical population – is expected to bring together multiple sectors. Hospitals and health systems are focusing on community health in new ways as they integrate outreach activities more closely with public health, collaborate with a wide variety of community partners and engage with the community to build an infrastructure for good health. This work acknowledges and emphasizes that investing in ameliorating the social and economic determinants of health will be as important as delivering high-quality medical services. 

The American Hospital Association 2016 Committee on Research was charged with exploring what the next generation of community health may look like as hospitals redefine themselves to keep pace with the changing health care landscape. The committee released this work in the form of a report, Next Generation of Community Health.