State and territorial Primary Care Offices (PCOs) must complete a unique community-based health needs assessment as a component of their funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Bureau of Health Workforce (BHW), within the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). PCOs receive direct guidance from BHW that identifies differences between a traditional PCO needs assessment and a community-based health needs assessment.
This issue brief is intended to build foundational knowledge regarding the PCO needs assessment, highlight the components that are unique to PCOs, and offer resources on promising practices identified through publicly available needs assessments and public health organizations.