Social scores are invading health care

A dozen years later, doctors and nurses are recording non-medical social codes as part of the EHR, and those extraordinarily subjective codes will likely have a decisive impact on how much of the $4 trillion the United States currently spends on health care will be diverted to social and environmental causes.

The Biden administration’s newly formed Office of Climate Change and Health Equity has introduced plans to “redress the disparities” in health outcomes across populations.

OCCHE was created under Executive Order 14008 and led by Admiral Rachel Levine. The bureau is tasked to “protect...