Social determinants of health data

The shift to value-based purchasing in healthcare has intensified the demand for data, particularly on those 60%–80% of factors that influence health outside the clinical setting. This includes Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) and health-influencing behaviors and social needs. Data is key to identifying high-risk populations, diagnosing and treating social needs, and evaluating the effectiveness of interventions. However, while this data is of great interest, there are several factors that hamper their utilization in healthcare: inconsistent collection, insufficient documentation and a lack of understanding of which pieces of data are high value. Humana believes actionable SDOH data will help us improve the health of our members. As such, we and other stakeholders are actively working to address these gaps.

The following brief will examine the types of SDOH data, considerations for healthcare use, current efforts to operationalize this data, and business impacts.