A Guide to using the Accountable Health Communities Health-Related Social Needs Screening Tool: Promising practices and key insights

In this document, we describe the health-related social needs (HRSN) Screening Tool from the Accountable Health Communities (AHC) Model and share promising practices for universal screening. HRSNs are individual level, adverse social conditions that negatively impact a person’s health or health care. HRSNs are distinguished from social determinants of health—the structural and contextual factors that shape everyone’s lives for better or worse—and can be identified by the health care system and addressed in partnership with community resources. Identifying and addressing HRSNs can have many benefits, including improvements to individuals’ health and reduced health care spending. We prepared this guide for health care and social service providers who are increasingly adopting the practice of universal HRSN screening.