How can we harness social determinants of health data?

You may be familiar with social drivers of health (SDoH), but do you know how they are documented and shared as part of the medical record? Can sharing SDoH data ultimately improve care and close health equity gaps? Get answers from Lauren Riplinger, JD, and Priya Bathija as they describe what some health systems are doing to record SDoH and ideas for how we can do even more.

I've worked with hospitals and health systems on this issue for six years now, and this theme has remained consistent. It's an intimidating process for care teams. They may not always feel prepared to discuss these sensitive topics with patients...But that being said, what we are seeing is that when care teams are involved with creating the process...they're educated on what to do. If there is a positive screen, those clinicians are more than willing to take this on, and they want to be a part of using this data to improve outcomes for their patient...So, adding SDoH data to hospital claims by utilizing Z codes enables us to get a better understanding of the health-related social needs of patients and communities around the country. And when we know that we can perhaps tailor federal programs to meet those needs.

Priya Bathija