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For managed-care plans focused on improving population health and reducing overall costs, the goal has to be on prevention, not just treatment. One increasingly popular strategy is targeting members based on social determinants of health (SDOH), which accounted for around $2.5 billion in spending between 2017 and 2019, according to a 2020 study. But how can plans make sure their investments in SDOH initiatives will bear fruit and make them more competitive in the market?
“In terms of enrollment, when you look at plans that are showing growth, every single one in the top 10 has very aggressive SDOH initiatives,” explained Carlos Baltodano, vice president of healthcare and government solutions at Ubiquity, a BPO that operates SDOH campaigns for health plans. Although each organization tasked with building its SDOH program will have distinct objectives, one of the first steps and most critical factors in developing that strategy is collecting and understanding SDOH data.