Increase in Medicare Advantage Activity to Address Social Determinants of Health, But Barriers Still Remain

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As Medicare Advantage continues to serve a proportionally higher-risk and more diverse enrollment population, a new report highlights innovative approaches to addressing social determinants of health (SDOH) for Medicare Advantage beneficiaries, while acknowledging barriers that remain. Social determinants of health are non-medical factors that account for up to 55% of an individual’s health outcomes, according…

Health Plan Investment in Social Determinants of Health Likely to Accelerate

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In recent years, Medicare Advantage (MA) plans have increasingly turned their attention to addressing members’ social determinants of health (SDoH), with the home playing a crucial role. That’s according to a new report from NORC at the University of Chicago. NORC conducted the report on behalf of Better Medicare Alliance’s (BMA) Center for Innovation in…

Applying the Equity Lens to Quality and Safety Initiatives

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Top leaders in quality at NYC Health + Hospitals discuss how restoring psychological safety among their staff affects not just how health care is delivered, but how it feels to deliver that care. The Chief Quality Officer for NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi and Senior Vice President and Chief Quality Officer for NYC Health + Hospitals…

The impact of value-based mental health care on racial and ethnic disparities

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Despite high demand, access to quality and affordable mental health care remains a challenge for many Americans. Less than half of those with mental health illness receive care and only about 10 percent of those with substance use disorders receive treatment, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. For people of color,…

Social determinants of health: The COVID-19 pandemic has widened the gap

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Before the COVID-19 pandemic, there had been much study and focus on the effect of social issues on the cost of health care and the overall health of the population, including the marked disparities in access to care for many segments of our population. In the last year, these disparities and their effects on our…

Internet Access as a Social Determinant of Health

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Using data from its social determinants of health database, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) recently created an online visualization tool providing county-level information about people’s internet access. The new resource features a US map showing percentages of households with computers, smartphones, and any type of high-speed internet access. The map also shows…

The Incentives, Barriers and Levers for Scale in Social Determinants of Health (SDoH)

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Historically, the U.S. healthcare system has evolved based upon the presence of an “event”, i.e., the need for a visit – planned or impromptu – to a medical provider and/or facility. The inefficiencies, glut of utilization and exponentially rising costs that flow from it as funded by the long-standing “fee-for-service” (FFS) payment methodology have been…

Medicare eligibility erases many healthcare disparities in US

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When it was launched 56 years ago, Medicare became the first single-payer insurance program in the U.S., guaranteeing medical coverage to virtually every American once they turned 65. Medicare has proven to be a crucial feature of the U.S. safety net, providing healthcare services to tens of millions of Americans while helping to keep them…

U.S. Agency Prioritizes Sharing Data on Social Determinants of Health, Such as Housing and Transportation

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On July 9, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), the federal agency that oversees health information technology, announced a long-awaited change that could help doctors and nurses provide better, more timely care for their patients. The agency released an updated version of the U.S. Core Data for Interoperability (USCDI), a…

How ACOs are Integrating Social Determinants of Health in Practice

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Despite agreement that the social determinants of health (SDOH) can impact accountable care organization (ACO) success, many see challenges in integrating interventions into practice, according to a new study published in Health Affairs obtained ahead of print by journalists. Specifically, ACOs face challenges in collecting data about patients experiencing key SDOH, creating meaningful community health partnerships, and…