Indicators of Community Health Status for Health Planning

The National Health Planning and Resources Development Act of 1974 (P.L. 93 -641) mandates Health Systems Agencies (HSAs) to assess the health status of residents of their planning areas. To satisfy this mandate, HSAs must be able to measure health status and to give such measures empirical content. There are barriers to pursuing effectively both activities. First, it is not clear what dimensions of health status planners should assess and monitor, although numerous measures have been developed. Second, given the capacity to measure health status, limitations on the statistical activities of HSAs suggest that most empirical analysis in support of health planning will be conducted with aggregate information routinely available.