News
New Survey Results Show That More Than a Third of CBOs Have Contracts
- By: USAging
- On: 02/08/2018 16:47:18
- In: Hot Topics in Aging
In a blog entry for Health Affairs, Nora Super, Director of n4a's Aging and Disability Business Institute, made the case for the critical role of community-based organizations (CBOs) in supporting the health-related social needs of older adults and people with disabilities, and released the findings of a Business Institute survey documenting the growth in CBOs securing health care contracts.
The survey, a snapshot of where the aging and disability networks stand in terms of health care partnerships, was sent to Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs), Centers for Independent Living and other community-based organizations across the country. The findings indicate increasing numbers of CBOs forming partnerships with health care entities to successfully address the social determinants of health for older adults in their communities—a result of years of work by n4a and now the Business Institute to help AAAs make these connections and secure such contracts.
Forty-one percent of responding AAAs and more than one-third (38.1 percent) of responding CBOs responding to the survey reported that they have at least one partnership with a health care entity, with an additional 16.5 percent reporting that they are in the process of pursuing a partnership. The most frequently reported contract partners were Medicaid managed care organizations (35 percent) and hospital/health systems (27.8 percent).
The survey's findings will help the Aging and Disability Business Institute assess how to increase the number of partnerships between CBOs and health care entities, driving improved health care outcomes for older adults while enabling them to remain in their homes and communities for as long as possible. Such partnerships also help AAAs and other CBOs diversify their sources of funding, which can help ensure these agencies' long-term viability.
n4a and the Aging and Disability Business Institute will continue to provide resources and tools to AAAs and CBOs to enhance their ability to develop partnerships with health care entities, advancing integration of health and social supports.
Read Nora Super's blog post.
Aging and Disability Business Institute website