Main Library
Patients struggle with unmet basic needs: Medical providers can help

Patients struggle with unmet basic needs: Medical providers can help

April 1, 2022Tamara Baer, Erica Coe, Anne Koffel, Jordan VanLareMcKinsey & CompanyPatient Engagement & Access,Health Equity & Social Determinants of Health (SDOH),Patient Outreach & Communications

Health systems, hospitals, and community health clinics have a substantial part to play in patients’ lives. As trusted sources of healthcare and information, US providers may help patients understand the links between unmet basic needs—or social determinants of health (SDOH)—and health while supporting patients in meeting these needs (see sidebar, “Unmet basic needs and other common SDOH terminology”). While unmet basic needs disproportionately affect Medicaid-insured patients, more than 45 percent of consumers across coverage types experience at least one unmet basic need. Even patients with higher salaries may be struggling with unmet needs. Ninety percent of the United States’ $3.8 trillion in annual healthcare expenditures are for people with chronic and mental-health conditions, with 60 percent of adults across the United States facing one chronic disease and 40 percent facing two or more chronic diseases.1Unmet basic needs contribute to this by leading to clinical exacerbations, unnecessary and avoidable utilization, and poor outcomes. Individuals with unmet basic needs often have less access to healthcare and lower satisfaction with the care they do receive, compared with individuals whose basic needs have been met; they are also more than 2.5 times more likely to report poor physical health, more than five times more likely to report mental-health issues, and more than twice as likely to report higher healthcare utilization.2 Even employed individuals with one or more unmet basic needs were about 2.4 times more likely not to receive needed physical healthcare and to miss six or more days of work in the past 12 months.

Full Article

: health equity, SDOH

Related Posts

When AI Meets SDOH

June 15, 2021Garrett Schmitt

Most doctors have patients affected by social drivers but feel ill-equipped to address them, survey finds

March 23, 2022aco

FLAACOS 2021 VBC PANEL SURVEY: A Summary of ACOExhibitHall.com Advisory Board Responses

December 2, 2021Garrett Schmitt

Recent Posts

  • Value-based care creating a new era of interoperability
  • ACO REACH And Advancing Equity Through Value-Based Payment, Part 1
  • Medicare Shared Savings Program: Celebrating 10 Years and Looking Forward to the Future
  • Considerations for Social Determinants of Health Screening Design
  • RECORDED WEBINAR: 5 Key Components for Organizational Growth Within Value-Based Care
 
  • Main Lobby
  • Exhibit Hall
  • Events
  • Exhibit With Us
  • Board Room
  • Library
  • Contact Us