HITEQ Health Center Social Needs Screening Star
In recent years, health centers have become increasingly interested in and charged with not only addressing the health concerns of their patients, but centering and responding to patient’s social needs. Identifying and addressing unmet social needs as part of the clinical encounter provides the opportunity to deliver higher-quality, whole-person care, advance population health, and reduce healthcare costs.Despite recent momentum in the area of social needs screening, implementation at community health centers continues to be varied and uneven, and many are looking for guidance from peers on how to screen for social needs and respond to positive screens.

This badge is designed to support health centers by outlining promising practices for implementing their social need screening programs. To implement an integrated screening program that produces high-quality data, health centers must utilize digital health solutions and leverage their electronic health record (EHR). The resources in this badge share examples of these solutions in practice, and are designed to equip health centers with the information necessary to implement a screening program that limits burden on staff, is meaningful for patients and their care, and advances population health.

Take some time to read through some of the articles on this page and then fill out the submission form on the right and you will be rewarded with a Health Center Social Needs Screening Superstar badge! This is an official badge that is submitted by the HITEQ Center as a proof of completion to the blockchain. Your credentials can be added to profiles such as LinkedIn and verified through accreditation services such as Accredible and Open Badge.

 

Lessons Learned in Social Need Screening

Takeaways and examples from interviews with health centers

Molly Rafferty 0 13007

In recent years, health centers have become increasingly interested in and charged with not only addressing the health concerns of their patients, but centering and responding to patient’s social needs. According to Healthy People 2030, social needs, also known as the social determinants of health, are the conditions in the environments where people live, learn, work, and play that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks. Social needs encompass the quality of and access to resources such as housing, transportation, safety, employment, food, and more. Identifying and addressing unmet social needs as part of the clinical encounter provides the opportunity to deliver higher-quality, whole-person care, advance population health, and reduce healthcare costs.

Strategies for Determining the Frequency of Social Need Screening

Resource developed April 2022

Molly Rafferty 0 9161

When implementing a social need screening program, it can be challenging to identify how frequently to conduct the screening with patients. Health centers may have to explore various strategies to develop a workflow that prevents appointment backups and reduces the burden on staff. This resource shares examples of strategies gleaned from interviews with health centers.

Lessons Learned: Implementing and Expanding Social Need Screening Program in Health Centers

HITEQ Highlights Webinar

Jodie Albert 0 9042

This HITEQ Highlights webinar presented promising practices and key considerations informed by health centers across the US who are successfully collecting, monitoring, and addressing social need data. 

Health centers are increasingly interested in implementing social need screening tools to identify ways to advance whole-person care and community-level health. However, implementing social needs screening tools requires a great deal of investment with regards to securing buy-in from leadership and staff, configuring the EHR, and developing processes and workflows for addressing positive screens. While addressing social needs in the context of healthcare is not new, systematically collecting, monitoring, and acting on data is an emerging space. With many health centers now trialing this implementation process, there are a number of promising practices that might be valuable to health centers considering this next step. This webinar offered key takeaways and examples to guide health centers through the implementation process, or help health centers with existing social needs screening programs to identify gaps and opportunities for improvement in their EHRs and workflows.

 

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