Patient Engagement News and Articles

How Do Clinicians Use Social Determinants of Health Info?

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Healthcare providers consider a patient’s reported social determinants of health in around 35 percent of healthcare decision-making, according to a report in the Annals of Family Medicine. This...

How Civic Engagement, Infrastructure Impact Community Health

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Getting into civics class might improve community health, with the latest County Health Rankings showing a link between civic engagement and community health. The rankings, completed by the University...

American Heart Association Offers Health Equity Training

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The American Heart Association (AHA) released an entrepreneurial training program to assist health equity innovators in tackling social determinants of health (SDOH) issues that impact urban and rural...

Retail Health Clinic Access Increased by 51% During Pandemic

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Retail health clinic access and utilization are on the up and up, as more patients accessed these alternative care sites than other points of care like ambulatory surgical centers and emergency...

GA Bill Seeks Better Patient-Provider Communication About Medical Errors

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A new bill in Georgia aims to improve patient-provider communication about medical errors and patient safety. The CANDOR (Communication and Optimal Resolution) Act, based on the CANDOR program of the...

Patient Portal Messages Need Streamlined Delivery for Patient Activation

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The patient portal might be too clunky or onerous to be useful in closing care gaps, with new research finding that patient portal messages didn’t do much to get patients in for preventive...

Does Cost-Sharing for Screening Result in Missed Cancer Diagnoses?

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Patients who face cost-sharing and high out-of-pocket healthcare costs for breast cancer screening might not access any applicable follow-up tests they need, according to research published in JAMA...

Race Leading SDOH in Maternal Health Disparities Beyond Income

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Pregnant individuals with low incomes typically have higher rates of maternal and infant mortality compared to those with higher incomes. However, according to a study out of Michigan Medicine, Black...

Social Vulnerability to Credit for Many COVID-19 Health Disparities

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It’s broadly accepted that the COVID-19 pandemic was characterized by stark health disparities, with those experiencing the greatest social vulnerability also seeing the worst pandemic outcomes....

HHS Slots $120M for Community Clinics to Boost Mental Healthcare Access

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Community Certified Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs) across the country are set to receive $120 million in funding opportunities from the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) in...

Racial Health Disparities in Fentanyl Overdoses Worsened in 2020

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The racial gap in overdose deaths is not a new phenomenon, but according to new research out of the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, those racial health disparities got even worse starting in 2018...

Eroding Black Patient Trust in Health Info Imperils Cancer Outcomes

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As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, an alarming trend in cancer outcomes has emerged—the trust of Black patients in government-provided cancer health information has plummeted by almost 50...

Discrimination a Key Social Determinant of Health in Frailty, Outcomes

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Discrimination is emerging as another social determinant of health, with yet another study connecting the weathering hypothesis to healthcare outcomes. This latest report, published in the journal...

Patients OK Test Results Via Patient Portal Even Without Doc Counsel

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Nearly every patient would rather get their test results via the patient portal, even if their provider hadn’t reviewed those results yet, according to new data from OpenNotes. The report,...

Challenging Patient Financial Responsibility Uncommon, But Fruitful

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Most patients don’t challenge their medical bills, but new survey data from YouGov conducted on behalf of AKASA shows that negotiating patient financial responsibility could be a fruitful...

How Food Swamps, Food Security Led to Chronic Disease, Obesity

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New data from the Urban Institute corroborates the link between food swamps—a caveat to food security—and chronic disease, particularly obesity. The study specifically showed that areas...

Older Adults Face Lower Social Isolation, But Mental Health Woes Linger

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Social isolation, a key social determinant of health (SDOH) affecting health outcomes, has begun to decline among older adults after three years of pandemic living. However, a survey revealed that one...

US Maternal Mortality, Maternal Health Disparities, Worsened Since 2019

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Maternal mortality, plus maternal health disparities, continue to get worse, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports the worst figures for maternal mortality in the past few...

How Does the Affordable Housing Crisis Impact Health Outcomes?

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The affordable housing crisis might impact patient health, with new data from the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine showing that moving because rent gets too high is linked to more psychological...

US Approach to Primary Care Access Struggles Is Disjointed

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A new report from FAIR Health indicates that the United States is taking a patchwork approach to patient access to care and primary care, with the data showing variable reliance on advanced practice...