How social determinants can assist to improve pop health approaches

Population health management is a rapid-growing capability within health IT, and handling the growth of country in overall care expenditures will need providers to expend more efforts taking care of underserved populations. This post will let you know that how social determinants can help improve pop health approaches.

Over 43 million individuals in the United States live below the poverty level and their care consumes 67% of healthcare dollars, in accordance to Arthur Kapoor, president at Health EC, a population health management company.

The requirements of this segment of the country have been ignored for a long time, he emphasized, and bringing them into the fold and gathering data on their social determinants is the key to population health success.

Vendors in the population heath arena have massive amounts of information that several providers are not taking benefit of, Kapoor says. Providers are too busy attempting to maximize revenue while being pressed to cut rates, to also massage and observe population health data.

Kapoor analyzes a new way to help burdened providers-- have their vendors bring the data to them.

Social determinants data can assist providers better understand underserved populations and the problems they face. Providers mostly do not know if their sufferers have access to transportation, food and housing, or if they are socially isolated and have no one to take them to doctor appointments. “No one talks to them,” Kapoor stated. “They keep taking medication when they no longer require it because they like it.”

But there is a simple way to reach these sufferers. Almost all of them have a smartphone, Kapoor noted, and population health vendors have tools to assist providers’ better monitor their patients.

For example, a hospital or physician practice can give out grocery cards to assist patients in poverty buy food. HealthEC can track the purchases and notify a physician or case manager if a sufferer bought food that is injurious and harmful to their health. A phone call can educate the patient and gives an opportunity for a quick assessment of current health and requirements, which can determine if the patient should come in for a visit.

Among other problems, population health vendors should offer one electronic health record (EHR) on a patient covering the whole spectrum of care to help providers execute and see the advantages of keeping patients healthy, and give providers quality reports so they can negotiate better terms with insurers and with other providers when forming an accountable care organization (ACO), in accordance to Kapoor.