When was the last time your doctor asked if you had enough food at home to feed you and your family? Or if you had reliable transportation to and from your physician’s office or local pharmacy?
These might sound like strange questions, but for far too many Americans who are living paycheck to paycheck, facing a disability or caring for a family member or loved one, they are significant to understanding health outcomes.
Unfortunately, these questions, all of which fall under the umbrella of ” social determinants of health,” are rarely asked, and it’s understandable why these conversations aren’t happening in the doctor’s office.
According to a new survey from Leavitt Partners, nearly half of doctors reported their patients would benefit from food assistance, affordable housing and transportation to appointments. After all, it’s estimated that social determinants of health and individual behavior account for 60 percent of our health.
But navigating these issues within the patient appointment can be challenging.
[See: 13 Ways Social Determinants Affect Health.]
According to the same Leavitt Partners’ survey, physicians don’t think it’s their role to help patients address these needs. Previous studies show physicians lack the time during office visits, while others report they lack the capacity to link patients to community resources, making their efforts ineffective.
So how do we solve this?
It’s time for our industry to step up, a position my company — WellCare Health Plans — has taken for the last seven years.
I’ve seen it work firsthand at WellCare. In 2011, our Center for CommUnity Impact launched in response to national social service funding cuts. It comprises several key elements: a research team that identifies available social services in communities throughout the country; a team of individuals who work in the field to identify individuals in need of services; and a dedicated call center — called the CommUnity Assistance Line — staffed by individuals who are living with a disability or have been served by the program at some point. It refers callers free-of-charge to local, community-based public assistance programs.
[See: 11 Ways Rural Life Is Hazardous to Your Health.]
Over the years, we’ve built up our database, and today we have access to more than 200,000 resources across the country. Most importantly, people in need are actually using this resource.
Our first year, we fielded 5,000 calls via the call center. Today, we field 105,000 calls per year, including requests for food, medication assistance, medical transportation and utilities assistance.
And the effort has paid off, with a 2016 study by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation showing that our model led to a 26 percent reduction in emergency spending, a 53 percent decrease in inpatient spending and a 23 percent decrease in outpatient spending.
Ensuring vulnerable populations have the basics — food, clothing, shelter, heat and medicine — is not just the right thing to do for their health, it’s the right thing to do.
[See: How Social Workers Help Your Health.]
As a next step, I’d call on the entire medical community to start the conversation on how we can better integrate social services into the delivery of care. Let’s work together and provide meaningful solutions, whether it’s referring patients to community resources, such as our call center, or making a bigger commitment to shore up investment in the social safety net.
Kenneth A. Burdick is the CEO of WellCare Health Plans, Inc.
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Addressing Social Determinants: We’re All in This Together originally appeared on usnews.com
