What is the Community Impact Tracker (CIT)?
The CIT is a free and secure coordination tool built in REDCap to help AAMC-member institutions collect, quantify, and share the work they do to ensure the health of all.
Who is the CIT for?
The CIT is designed for an AAMC-member health system or medical school’s university within a single, circumscribed geographic location such as a city, county, or small region. AAMC-member standalone hospitals can also use the CIT. The CIT is designed for use across an entire institution (e.g., university schools and departments, not just in the school of medicine).
How was the CIT developed?
In 2016, a group of 10 academic health systems and medical schools, funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, developed a spreadsheet-based tool to track and coordinate their institution’s efforts to ensure the health of all. In 2022, the AAMC Center for Health Justice partnered with REDCap, four AAMC member institutions, and their community partners on a two-year pilot to develop an improved, cloud-based version of the tool that could also be accessible to community-based organizations. In 2024, three AAMC member institutions tested the tool for final updates and enhancements. Some institutions participated in multiple phases of the development.
What data does the CIT collect?
The CIT gathers information across an institution’s research, clinical, education, and community engagement missions about programs, initiatives, strategies, partnerships, and other activities aimed toward ensuring all communities have a genuine opportunity to thrive.
What data does it not collect?
The tool does not capture any human subjects information. It captures only information at the project or initiative level when population or community health is named as an explicit goal.
My institution is a not-for-profit hospital. Can the CIT help me with my community benefit reporting and community health needs assessment (CHNA)?
Yes! The CIT allows you to classify activities across community benefit and community building categories from Schedule H Form 990 (though it will not help quantify expenditures). Since the CIT is a centralized repository of all population and community health-focused activity across your institution, it is greatly beneficial for organizing work across community-prioritized health needs in service of CHNA reporting.
Will the CIT evaluate the impact of my activities?
No, but the CIT does allow you to describe each activity’s goals, and any methods and metrics you use to assess impact.
How is my institution’s information in the CIT protected?
The responses collected in the CIT are stored in a secure, REDCap-based, 21 CFR Part 11, FISMA, HIPAA, and GDPR-compliant database in the United States, with appropriate access controls to limit exposure of your data to those with a need to know. Only individuals that you identify at your institution will be granted access to your institution’s data; data across all users of the CIT are only visible to select AAMC Center for Health Justice staff. These data are classified as confidential by the AAMC. Confidential information may not be released with individual or institutional identification without your permission.
How will my institution use the information in the CIT?
It’s up to your institution! For example, you can use the information to tell better stories and give quantitative data about the scope and value of your work. You can then communicate that value to your institution’s leaders and your community in ways that make sense to your institution and relationships.
How will the AAMC use the information in the CIT?
Select AAMC Center for Health Justice staff may share aggregate, deidentified data across institutional users for advocacy purposes and other efforts to further the Center for Health Justice’s mission. Additionally, once there is a critical mass of CIT users, the AAMC will produce an annual report describing AAMC-member activity in this space.
How will REDCap use the information in the CIT?
REDCap will not use the information. REDCap staff will have limited access controls, restricting exposure to those with a need to know only in case of emergent issues, such as the need to retrieve lost information.
How long does it take to set up the CIT?
The timeline for building your CIT will vary depending on the size, scope, and complexity of your institution, as well as the breadth of your different activities and partnerships. You’ll gather this data with the Center’s guidance; the Center will set up the CIT for you. Then it’s yours and you can add and update the data.
What support will I have as a CIT user?
All CIT users will have access to a virtual community of other users, the AAMC Center for Health Justice’s support, and the REDCap Community.
I want to use the CIT at my institution. How do I start?
Fill out the interest form, and the AAMC Center for Health Justice will be in touch to set up an introductory call with you. In that call, we’ll help you decide if the CIT is the right fit for you, and we’ll discuss next steps.