There is growing concern among many well-respected providers about the consequences of fewer preventive services over the past 1½ years as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. As patients slowly start to resume care throughout 2021 and into 2022, experts predict we will see a spike in the number of severe or late-stage diagnoses that normally…
Social determinants of health contracting with community-based organizations remains a complex and challenging task for payers as the demand for answers grows more pressing. As the industry’s awareness of social determinants of health expands, so does the need for evidence-based solutions. Often, these solutions require health insurers and health systems to contract with community-based organizations…
In 2016, Geisinger opened its Fresh Food Farmacy, a program that connects people with type 2 diabetes with fresh food weekly, social services and a care team to help them manage their health. The Pennsylvania-based health system started the program in an area that has high rates of diabetes and food insecurity, and so far,…
As a doctor, it is pretty humbling to reflect on the fairly minimal impact our health care system has on individuals’ overall health. One study I find particularly intriguing shows that socioeconomic factors (e.g., education and income), and physical environment (e.g., security and safety at home and reliable access to transportation), affect a person’s health…
Many healthcare workers experience social determinants of health, with new data published in Health Affairs particularly outlining disparities in food insecurity between healthcare support staff and clinical staff. Although food insecurity is lower among the total healthcare worker population than the rest of the United States, healthcare support staff are significantly more likely to experience food insecurity…
Decades in the making, the transition to value-based care may soon be complete. In June, Liz Fowler, the new deputy administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and director of its Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), suggested that CMS may soon require providers to be reimbursed based on patient outcomes. This…
The uncertainty and risk created by pandemic-related disruptions in care have health plans in uncharted water when it comes to relying on claims data and utilization patterns to inform their risk models. But while these disruptions weakened the reliability of traditional risk models, they also created opportunities to deepen and enrich member data by leveraging…
For South Texas Physician’s Alliance, social determinants of health referral has been a learning experience. The organization, which has joined providers across the country in efforts to address social determinants of health, knew the best solution was connecting patients to social services providers. A patient presenting with food insecurity needs a referral to a food…
Value-based care is now firmly entrenched in our healthcare system. Payers credit value-based care with lowering costs, improved outcomes, enhanced payer/provider relationships, and improved patient engagement. With the growth of value-based care models, a trend gaining traction is the transition from treatment at a provider’s site to a patient’s home. This shift to home and…
The number of Medicare Advantage plans investing in supplemental benefits to address social determinants of health tripled in a single year, but additional guidance and standards from the Biden administration are needed, a new report said. The report, released Thursday by the Better Medicare Alliance, comes as the Biden administration has made it a priority…