Always ASK about SDOH

If you don’t ask, how will you know? Many offices are collecting a social history on their patients, such as marital status and whether the patient smokes or drinks alcohol. While this is important to note, Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) questions also capture information about basic needs such as safety, transportation, food, and housing.

Why is this so important? Consider this example:

Let’s say you find during an Annual Wellness Visit that you may need to add or change a current medication, as you are working diligently to get a patient’s blood pressure under control. Meanwhile, the patient may be concerned about covering this month’s utilities or maintaining a roof over their head. They may have even lost their health insurance. So you can see how a medication change might not be top of mind for the patient, even though you know it’s very important.

Questions to Ask

To gather more information on SDOH, ask patients if they are having any concerns with:

• Financial instability (may impact having prescriptions filled)
• Housing stability
• Transportation issues (could impact appointments or testing)
• Food insecurity
• Interpersonal safety (domestic violence)

Having anyone on the care team ask these questions can make your treatment plan more meaningful.

How You Can Help

Here are some ways you can help based on what you learn:

• North Carolina offers many resources for residents that can help with SDOH issues. Visit nc211.org to learn more.
• Refer the patient to the number on the back of their HealthTeam Advantage insurance card. They can call us at this number, and we will try to find resources to help.
• Ask patients who have lost health insurance to call 2-1-1 or 1-888-892-1162 for free and confidential help with food, housing, and other basic needs. United Way’s NC 211 provides this service.

We hope you agree that asking about SDOH can be well worth the time, for your practice and especially your patients!