Social needs screening among non-federal acute care hospitals, 2022

Social determinants of health refers to social factors and physical conditions of the environment in which people are born, live, learn, work, and play (e.g., employment, education, social and community context) that affect health and quality-of-life outcomes. Social needs, such as transportation, housing, and food security, are encountered at the individual level and reflect how social determinants of health (SDOH) affect individuals’ daily lives. An individual may have a range of social needs that affect their health. There is a large body of evidence demonstrating the link between social needs and health, and increasing evidence that addressing individuals’ social needs is associated with improved health outcomes. The demonstrated link between social needs and individual health has spurred recent efforts to increase social needs screening and collection of social determinants of health data by providers in inpatient and outpatient settings. Hospitals are uniquely suited to help address social needs and assist with transitions of care, particularly those serving high-risk populations. However, it is unclear if these data are collected routinely and whether they are captured in a structured format (i.e., using a screening tool or diagnosis codes) that would facilitate exchange. This data brief uses nationally representative survey data from the 2022 American Hospital Association (AHA) Information Technology (IT) supplement to describe the extent to which non-federal acute care hospitals collect and receive data on individual patients’ health-related social needs and how these data are used to promote patient and population health.