Social Determinants

Key Points Access to healthcare is widely viewed among Americans as being a fundamental right. Yet health inequities continue to deprive many people access to high-quality, affordable care. It is incumbent on U.S. health systems to take the lead in addressing this problem. This is the critical challenge being addressed by Tina Graham, chief operating […]

New study reinforces findings of 2020 Health Affairs report Three years ago, Health Affairs reported that experts estimate that up to 80 percent of a person’s health is determined by nonclinical factors—things like financial stability, access to safe, affordable housing and to healthy food, and social supports. Yet, as a society, we spend billions of dollars […]

Key Points Now more than ever, care guidance is becoming a “must have” addition to the service portfolio of health systems, hospitals and provider organizations that are taking on shared risk with payers through value-based contracts. These providers are electing to participate in new arrangements that link payments to measured outcomes, health equity improvement, and […]

Key Points: To address Social determinants of health (SDoH) among at-risk managed care beneficiaries, CMS announces that its Medicare Advantage (MA) Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) Model is extended through 2030. This includes changes specifically focused on health-related social detriment challenges and associated patient needs. For example, under this Model, participating MA plans may provide patients with […]

Key Points: A recent National Public Radio (NPR) story, Live free and die? The sad state of U.S. life expectancy, digs into why Americans experience more diseased conditions and higher rates of early mortality compared to other nations. This story comes on the heels of Federal health officials confirming that life expectancy in America had […]

In today’s day and age, healthcare organizations must approach their care coordination with the utmost scrutiny. Custom communication, efficiency, and productivity are key. For these aims, bundling payments is one way to achieve organizational outcomes. This is especially important with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and  bundled payment initiatives. Furthermore, the Comprehensive […]

AI is becoming increasingly popular across the world, and it also promises to change healthcare as we know it. In fact, AI can help enhance health equity. This is both true at the point of care and with regard to decision making in clinical practice. So in this article, let’s talk about how data and […]

Ethics in healthcare is an important topic. It can become an issue in a lot of contexts. For instance, if a patient has particular cultural beliefs that conflict with healthcare treatment, this can cause concerns. Or if a patient even refuses to take treatment, this is another problem. Sometimes healthcare members can make big mistakes […]

Guideway Care serves as an extension of a physician’s clinical care team: In Guideway Care’s most recent publication of “Care Guidance Helps Physician Practices Achieve Health Equity” in Physician’s Practice, author Craig Parker, JD, CPA, CEO, Guideway Care,  explains how health equity priorities are impacting the financial and operational performance of physician practices.  He articulates […]

February is American Heart Month, a time to focus on improved cardiovascular health and patient outcomes. Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) experienced by cardiovascular disease (CVD) patients are underlying, contributing factors of health inequities that negatively affect care access, delivery, utilization, and potentially lead to poor outcomes including CVD-related morbidity and mortality. For providers within […]

As we close out the first quarter of 2022, we want to share some of the new and updated health equity resources that are helping us understand and address health equity. This is not an exhaustive list. It encompasses the links and data that we have found helpful in the work that we do at […]

When treating certain health conditions, physicians are faced with the challenge of motivating patients to change their behaviors. Successful management of lifestyle diseases, such as obesity, heart disease, and Type 2 diabetes, hinges on a patient’s willingness and ability to alter their day-to-day actions, including diet, exercise, smoking, and drinking—but what happens when there are […]