Historically, the incentives built into fee-for-service (FFS) payment models actually encouraged providers to ignore social determinants of health (SDH) that impact health outcomes.

For example, providers were financially rewarded when “frequent flyers” were readmitted, and it was easy to rationalize such factors as “out of scope”. Ignoring vulnerable populations’ socioeconomic factors may have been good for business in the past, but looking to the future, providers are now being forced to consider SDH’s impact.

Growth in bundled and risk-based payment models are driving this change by focusing on health outcomes and cost of care, shining a spotlight on the impact of SDH. Newly-enthusiastic providers are committing resources to community health strategies, but often without a coherent framework and focus on ROI. Instead of broadly defined population health initiatives, providers must take a targeted, outcomes-focused approach.