Breaking Down the Barriers Between Health and Social Care Services: Implementing a Social Determinants of Health Network

Most determinants of health are social and not directly amenable to medical treatment. To improve equity, the medical delivery system must partner with social care services, but the institutional bridges are often lacking. Healthy Alliance — originally funded in 2015 by the New York State Department of Health’s Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment program through the Medicaid Section 1115 demonstration waiver — in 2018 developed a social determinants of health network (SDHN) as a regional strategy to provide health-critical social care services in...