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Do you know alot about the - Social Determinants of Health?

Assessing and Addressing Social Determinants of Health: A Key Competency for Succeeding in Value-Based Care (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31655752/)

"There is growing recognition that social determinants of health (SDoH) influence individual and population health. A well-designed population health management strategy can yield improved outcomes for a given community, while improving the financial health of health care systems and providers...

A definition to keep in mind: The CDC's Healthy People (HP) initative that started 3 decades ago with HP-2020 being the current iteration defines SDoH as the "...conditions in the environments in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide reange of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risk..."

(https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/social-determinants-of-health)

Some data to consider:

- Social determinants represent 40% to 50% of the cost structure in Medicare and Medicaid.

- More than half of the states now require Medicare Managed Care Organization (MMCO) to have plans to address SDoH. (https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/pdf/10.1089/pop.2018.0173)

- According to a 2018 Physicians Foundation Survey of America’s Physicians, nearly 90% of US physicians report that some of their patients have a social condition that affects their health, whether it be unemployment, lack of education, or drug addiction.

Some emerging actions taking place:

- Incorporating social determinants of health (SDoH) into strategy and care model design is emerging as a key factor in identifying and managing patient risk.

- Health systems are investing in several innovative social determinant initiatives; major themes include a focus on addressing food security and housing.

- Scalability remains a challenge given where providers and health systems are in the transition to value; estimating cost avoidance/savings to a health system is key in generating support for models.

- Predictive models and CMS-endorsed screening tools are beginning to influence a more standardized approach to screening for SDoH in the electronic health record (EHR) as part of the patient visit.

The deeper article(s) is/are enlightening...............................

Also, when any group of people stick their collective heads in the sand that is never a good thing. This is something we cannot do. That is why I present this kind of information to the RP family in the manner I do. Becuase - it matters!

COL Mikel J. Burroughs; COL Lee Flemming; LCdr (Rabbah) Rona Matlow; CPT Aaron Kletzing; Maj Marty Hogan; SMSGT Gerald "Doc" Thomas; SCPO Morris Ramsey; Lt Col Charlie Brown; LTC (Join to see); Maj William "Bill" Price; LTC Stephen C.; LTC Stephen F.; Capt Dwayne Conyers; CMSgt (Join to see); SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth; LTC Jason Mackay; MSgt Robert "Rock" Aldi; MSgt Paul Connors (Publishing); SFC James J Palmer IV (JP4);Maj Alea Nadeem