When Did A Doctor Last Worry About Social Determinants of Health (SDOH)?

I’ve heard over and over the importance of social determinants of health (SDOH) and their impact on healthcare costs. The concept is fascinating and challenging. There are thousands of examples. A simple one to illustrate the challenge is the patient who arrives at the emergency room with a fever. The doctor treats the fever and then sends them back to their home where they have no heat and are likely to get sick again.

I ask all the doctors that read this blog, when was the last time you worried about these various social determinants of health (SDOH) in the care you provided a patient?

I’ll be interested to hear people’s responses to this question. I’m sure it would create some incredible stories from doctors who really care about their patients and go above and beyond their job duties. In fact, it would be amazing to hear and share some of these stories. We could learn a lot from them. However, I’m also quite sure that almost all of those stories would end with the doctor saying “I wasn’t paid to help the patient this way but it was the right thing to do.”

Let me be clear. I’m not blaming doctors for not doing more for their patients. If I were a doctor, I’m sure I’d have made similar decisions to most of the doctors out there. They do what they’re paid to do.

As I’ve been sitting through the AHIP Institute conference, I’m pondering on if this will change. Will value based reimbursement force doctors to understand SDOH or will they just leave that to their health system or their various software systems to figure it out for them?

I’m torn on the answer to that question. A part of me thinks that most doctors won’t want to dive into that area of health. Their training wasn’t designed for that type of thinking and it would be a tough transition of mindset for many. On the other hand, I think there’s a really important human component that’s going to be required in SDOH. Doctors have an inherent level of trust that is extremely valuable with patients.

What do you think of SDOH? Will doctors need to learn about it? Will the systems just take care of it for them?