Accounting for social risk factors can have meaningful impact on healthcare quality measures

News-Medical.Net April 6, 2021
Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.

A new analysis by a team of researchers led by Dr. David Nerenz of Henry Ford Health System suggests that accounting for social risk factors like poverty, housing instability and transportation insecurity can have meaningful impact on healthcare quality measures without compromising quality of care.

In a report published today in Health Affairs, researchers make the case for using social risk factors in specific circumstances to “level the playing field” for adjusting quality measures used in quality reporting and value-based purchasing programs. Social risk adjustment would apply to scenarios in which providers cannot mitigate the impact of social risk factors and when those risk factors directly impact care outcomes.

“We acknowledge the challenges in knowing when social risk adjustment is...

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