Background: Healthcare disparities have existed for decades, yet it took a global pandemic to put this emergency into the spotlight. The Joint Commission states “health related social needs” (HRSN) are the root cause of many disparities. HRSN encompasses a wide spectrum including inability to pay bills, poor access to transportation, and lack of housing. At […]

Background: Healthcare disparities have existed for decades, yet it took a global pandemic to put this emergency into the spotlight. The Joint Commission states “health related social needs” (HRSN) are the root cause of many disparities. HRSN encompasses a wide spectrum including inability to pay bills, poor access to transportation, and lack of housing. At […]

Background: Lack of stable housing adversely affects health outcomes, increases healthcare utilization, and increases mortality. Few studies have assessed the prevalence of homelessness and housing insecurity in hospitalized patients. To address this gap, we conducted a hospital point-in-time study to determine the prevalence of housing insecurity and homelessness among hospitalized patients at two academic medical […]

Background: Health-related social needs (HRSN) exacerbate poor health in patients with chronic medical conditions. The population of frequently hospitalized patients is heterogeneous, but many have unmet health related social needs. Multidisciplinary programs for this population emphasize longitudinal patient-provider relationships and intensive case management. Studies of these interventions have failed to demonstrate improved readmissions outcomes but […]

Background: The social determinants of health (SDOH) are widely recognized as having an important impact on health and mortality with up to 80% of health outcomes shaped by SDOH domains ( the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age). There is strong evidence that addressing unmet social needs can lower healthcare […]