Community Health Worker Program Feasibility Study

What a good one includes

• A comprehensive community needs assessment that details local health disparities, barriers to care, and the specific demographic groups your program will serve.
• A detailed financial model outlining start-up costs, ongoing salary requirements, and viable long-term funding pathways like Medicaid reimbursement or federal grants.
• An integration and workflow strategy that defines exactly how community health workers will collaborate with clinical staff, social services, and local partners.
• A workforce development plan specifying required CHW certifications, training programs, supervision structures, and safe working protocols.
• A regulatory compliance analysis covering local scope-of-practice laws, HIPAA privacy standards, and liability considerations for field-based staff.
• An evaluation framework with clear key performance indicators to measure patient engagement, health outcomes, and return on investment.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Designing the initiative without direct input from the target community, which often leads to distrust and low program adoption.
• Underestimating the ongoing cost of clinical supervision and mental health support required to prevent CHW burnout.
• Relying solely on short-term pilot grants without mapping out a sustainable reimbursement or billing model for long-term operations.
• Overburdening community health workers with heavy clinical administrative tasks, which detracts from their core strength of relationship-building.

Frequently asked questions