SOLUTION PROVIDER Q&A
SDOH- Using Data to Empower Better Care
What are the most important social determinants to monitor and what steps should providers and others take to determine
those? Each of the SDoH categories are important. When thinking about a whole patient/mem- ber, we need to evaluate all the categories, such as house, transportation, food, compan- ionship, etc. On a population level, we see significant changes in the impact of different SDoH based on geography, so we also think that providers and others should analyze their specific geography(ies) to understand the broader need for sufficient community based resources and interventions. We feel strongly that SDoH cannot be suf-
ficiently monitored through self-reported data such as patient questionnaires or other models that infer SDoH needs based on ED use, etc. It is necessary to use data streams that actually measure the SDoH needs directly. Does anyone in the household have a car? Do they have a home? These direct measures from government and commer- cial data sources are critical to monitor a population correctly.
What have been the lessons learned so far around building SDOH partnerships? What are the factors for determining the best
way to collaborate? SDoH partnerships today are the coalition of the willing. They start with a shared desire to make a change and a willingness to break the inertia of “how things have always been done.” But, to stay healthy over time, partnerships also have to understand the sustainable goals of each party and seek to mutually address these goals. Payers may seek lower costs. Hospitals might seek reduced variance days. A food bank might seek recurring income models. Partnerships are not sustainable unless these goals are identified and understood by everyone.
What are some best practices for incorporating SDOH data into care delivery, and successfully
merging that data with other important data points, for
population health success? Best practices start with the data -- the importance of having data that provides good predictive lift in stratification mod- els. Once the other data points are known, it is important to think about moving SDoH from “a hero project” to “business as usual.” The jobs of collecting data, combining it, doing the stratification, determining the intervention, and measuring the outcome of that intervention all need to be automated into the right workflow system. All of this need not run, for example, inside an EMR, but any part of data collection, interven- tion, or outcome measurement that is to be done by provider staff must be in the general workflow tool used by that staff, not a separate SDoH platform.
What are the core challenges that still exist around measuring, collecting and integrating SDOH
data? First, it is difficult to ensure that SDoH data from multiple sources are all matched in a patient centric way. The probabilistic match- ing done by more EMPIs or MDM systems are not as accurate as needed for quality targeting of SDoH interventions across mul- tiple datasets. Second, as mentioned above, it is important to use and integrate objective data that objectively indicates SDoH needs; this allows for comprehensive population analysis without the gaps and delays of surveys and questioners. But measuring outcomes remains a chal-
lenge, one the industry needs to address in 2021.
In which ways can analytics and other technology be leveraged for
organizations to act on SDOH? Analytics ought to be used, first and fore- most, for stratification of needs. But we believe there is great opportunity for using technology to meet the two needs discussed above: business-as-usual automated work- flows and measurement of outcomes (inter- vention effectiveness). To better automate
Sponsored Content
Jay Sultan, VP Healthcare Strategy LexisNexis Risk Solutions
the workflow, we believe the industry needs analytics to match community-based resources and other interventions to the patients/members specific SDoH needs. Finally, the measurement of performance (outcomes measures and success of inter- ventions) will be the biggest challenge for the industry.
Can you offer a prediction in this area that may play out over the
next 12 to 24 months? In the next 12-24 months, the industry will have solved these two issues, namely 1) making SDoH a business-as-usual process and built into standard workflows and 2) measuring outcomes and performance of the intervention. If not, we will remember SDoH as one of the many healthcare fads that fizzled out. However, we are bullish that SDoH is too mission-critical to be allowed to fail in this way and that the financial and moral imperatives will ensure the needed investment and adoption.
risk.lexisnexis.com/healthcare
MARCH/APRIL 2021 |
hcinnovationgroup.com
3
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40
