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How to address the social determinants of health – and pay for it too

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It’s no secret that social determinants like housing, food access and transportation play a role in a patient’s health, but what may be surprising is the extent to which that’s the case.

A study from the University of Wisconsin found that social and economic factors account for 40 percent of the variation in health outcomes, double the contribution of clinical care.

With this realization has come a new pressure for traditional healthcare players to reach outside the four walls of the clinic and impact those foundational factors that act as barriers to better health.

The topic of how exactly the healthcare industry is attempting to address this issue is the subject of a panel at the MedCity ENGAGE conference in San Diego from Nov. 6 to 7.

The event will be moderated by Solera Vice President of Social Determinants of Health Michelle Marshall and feature Anton Berisha, senior director of clinical analytics and innovation at LexisNexis Risk Solutions, Jay Bhatt, the senior vice president and chief medical officer for the American Hospital Association, Melinda Barzaga, associate director of healthcare nonprofit Vision Y Compromiso and Dennis Depenbusch, the director of new venture initiatives at BlueCross Blue Shield of Kansas.

Depenbusch, who runs a corporate venture fund for the company, explained how the insurer is partnering with companies and community groups to tackle the problem and his theory on effective investing in the social determinants space.

BlueCross Blue Shield of Kansas has enlisted the help of Healthify, a New York-based startup focused on social health factors in the managed care space, as part of its efforts. Depenbusch’s venture fund has invested in company and is currently piloting their technology platform with members.

Healthify’s platform essentially helps health care providers and managed care plans find available social services and coordinate referrals to organizations targeting risk factors like clothing, mental health support and transportation.


Attend MedCity ENGAGE to hear about how the healthcare industry is trying to address social determinants for patients. Save an additional $50 using the MCN50 code. Register now.


The company’s technology can locate the resources closest and most accessible to members, which is especially important in remote and rural areas.

“We’re seeing really interesting results including the simple awareness of the variety of social service agencies and the ability to track how these individuals flow through the system and what other potential services could help them,” Depenbusch said in a phone interview.

Even as technology is positioned as a key part of the solution, what’s vital according to Depenbusch is developing on the ground and personal relationships in order to build a level of trust and follow through on services.

One issue from the perspective of an investor and a payer organization like BlueCross Blue Shield of Kansas is that traditional fee-for-service system is not set up to financially incentivize dealing with social determinants.

But Depenbusch said that the barrier is starting to change with the shift toward value-based care and more executives seeing the value of addressing social and economic factors as a way to significantly improve health outcomes.

“The traditional infrastructure of health insurance reimbursement has never encapsulated social determinants, but as we move to a value based world, we’re trying to deliver a new paradigm into a traditional entrenched process that needs to be disrupted,” he said.

Photo: vaeenma, Getty Images

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