The Possible Dark Side Of Social Determinants Of Health

Health plans have a growing interest in the social determinants of health (SDH) and lifestyle factors contributing to illness and health care costs. The reason for their interest is quite straightforward—over half of health care costs are due to “lifestyle factors” (see Moving Beyond The 10% To Be A 'High Value' Organization). The Annual Industry Pulse Survey reports that 80% of payers believe addressing SDH are important, 42% are integrating SDH programs into their population health efforts, and 34% are using census and socioeconomic data to augment their clinical data (see The 8th Annual Industry Pulse Report).

But there . . .