By Healthcare Brew Staff
less than 3 min read
Definition:
Social determinants of health (SDOH) are the nonmedical elements of a patient’s life that could impact their health. These include socioeconomic status, race, gender, ethnicity, housing status, and income level.
Examples of SDOH impacting health
While some ways that SDOH could impact a patient’s health are obvious—like someone living in a healthcare desert where it’s difficult to find certain care—there are less obvious ways, too.
For instance, we’ve written about how a patient who doesn’t have a large social network could face a harder time recovering from a major health crisis. And how patients who have received a higher level of (or better-quality) education tend to engage in healthier activities and land higher paid jobs, giving them better access to pricier care.
What can providers do?
By adopting health equity practices, providers position themselves to better address inequities and inaccessibility. This can look like opening care facilities that cater specifically to Black women, providing gender-affirming care, and addressing socioeconomic and environmental factors to avoid future public health crises.
On the federal level, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services added eight additional ICD-10 codes in 2023, to help providers better describe SDOH factors that might impact children’s health.
