Health IT Outcomes November 1, 2019
Zip code, not just genetic code, is a significant driver of health outcomes.* Indeed, the environmental, social, cultural, community, economic, and educational influences on people’s health over time—collectively known as the social determinants of health (SDOH)—variably impact people’s ability to lead healthy lives over time. Organizations have invested heavily in solutions such as affordable housing, case management, and food delivery services to attempt to address SDOH in recent years. However, many of these same organizations have been unsuccessful in mitigating SDOH due to factors such as poor patient follow-up, lack of necessary data to monitor interventions, and the expense and staffing challenges of in-person or telephone-based case workers.
Significant hurdles organizations continue to face include identifying barriers to care as...