Social Determinants of Health

White House Commits to Ending Hunger, Diet-Related Illness by 2030

February 28, 2024 - The White House kicked off the White House Challenge to End Hunger and Build Healthy Communities yesterday, leading industry standouts like Missouri-based health system Ascension and health IT vendor giant Epic in a nationwide effort to address hunger and food insecurity as a social determinant of health. The event, led by Second Gentleman Douglas...


More Articles

Is SNAP the Solution to Healthcare’s Medication Adherence Woes?

by Sara Heath

Connecting patients experiencing food insecurity with SNAP benefits could improve medication adherence by as much as nearly 14 percent, according to new data from The Ohio State University. The study,...

How Community Health Centers Support Transitions Out of Incarceration

by Sara Heath

As the healthcare industry continues to eye better transitions of care for patients who are recently incarcerated, community health centers agree they are poised to fill the gap, according to a new...

How a Primary Care-Based Housing Instability Program Cut Outpatient Utilization

by Sara Heath

A community health worker-led program to address housing instability was effective at reducing primary care and outpatient care overutilization, proving that addressing the social determinant of health...

HHS Launches 3 Public-Private Partnerships for Food Is Medicine Efforts

by Sara Heath

HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra used last week’s Food is Medicine summit to unveil three new public-private partnerships with Instacart, the Rockefeller Foundation, and Feeding America, all with the...

VA Cuts Homelessness, SDOH by 55% with Housing First Model

by Sara Heath

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) was able to reduce homelessness by 55 percent over a 13-year period, demonstrating the power of integrating social determinants of health interventions into the...

Cultural Competence in Healthcare: Why It’s Important & How to Build It

by Sara Heath

Healthcare is undergoing a seismic shift, with the role of public and population health playing a bigger role in patient care than ever before. Core to that role is the increased focus on health disparities, health equity, and cultural...

What Is Health Equity? Tracing Equity Origins & Progress Today

by Sara Heath

Health equity isn’t just another industry buzzword. As the medical industry works toward true health and well-being for all, health equity has emerged as a critical goal for payers, providers, and healthcare policymakers. Still, the...

SDOH, Transportation Access a Problem for 5.7% of Patients

by Sara Heath

Transportation access continues to be a leading social determinant of health, with new CDC data showing it affected 5.7 percent of adults over the course of 12 months. The report, which used 2022...

Uber Health’s Health IT Deal to Ease Transportation, SDOH Referral

by Sara Heath

Health IT company Socially Determined is teaming up with Uber Health to make it easier for payers and providers to flag patients with social determinants of health barriers, like transportation access,...

Data Reveals How Health Outcomes Link to Structural Racism

by Sara Heath

A recent study from researchers out of Mount Sinai is providing data to support what many have argued in the past few years, that structural racism is linked to poorer health outcomes. The study,...

Few Providers Use Z-Codes to Document Social Determinants of Health

by Sara Heath

Z-codes were added as an element of ICD-10 to help healthcare organizations document and track social determinants of health in patients, but two new and unrelated studies in Health Affairs Scholar...

Montefiore’s Community Health Worker Role a Bridge to Medical Workforce

by Sara Heath

At Montefiore Medical Center, the Community Health Worker Institute (CHWI) is a pipeline to the healthcare workforce. Sure, the actual “community health worker,” or CHW, title is an entry-level job, but it’s a key...

Health Equity Key 2024 Priority, But Challenges Lie Ahead

by Sara Heath

Health equity will remain in the industry spotlight as healthcare and life sciences executives continue to eye it as a top priority for 2024, according to a new report from Deloitte. The Deloitte...

How Workflow Factors Sway Social Determinants of Health Screening Rates

by Sara Heath

Primary care providers looking to increase their rates of social determinants of health screenings might consider having advanced practice providers administer them, among other factors, according to a...

Black Women Bear the Brunt of Racism’s Effect on Hypertension Risk

by Sara Heath

Racial discrimination is linked with increased hypertension risk, illustrating the concept of weathering in healthcare, and for Black women with college degrees or higher, it’s even worse,...

How Do Income & SDOH Affect Cardiovascular Healthcare?

by Sara Heath

Income is once again emerging as a leading social determinant of health, with two new studies showing a link between low-income and poor heart health and healthcare. The studies published in the...

Racism Key Social Determinant of Health Linked to 38% Risk of Stroke

by Sara Heath

Women who have experienced racism have a 38 percent higher risk of stroke than women who have not, according to a new JAMA Network Open study, giving further credence to the weathering hypothesis in...

Better Patient Experience Needed for Trust in SDOH Data Sharing

by Sara Heath

Healthcare professionals need to determine what it’ll take for patients to trust the exchange of their social determinants of health (SDOH) data, including looking into improving patient...

HHS Slates $3.7B for Utility Bills, Social Determinants of Health

by Sara Heath

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is investing $3.7 billion to help with utility bills, particularly home energy costs, via the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program...