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: Recognizing the significant effect that social factors have on health outcomes, national stakeholders have developed policies requiring healthcare organizations to identify and address health-related social needs (HRSN). However, the effectiveness of HRSN screening strategies remains unclear. Notably, policymakers provide minimal guidance on how screening should be conducted and allow hospitals to use self-selected screening [...]

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: Advances in complex congenital cardiac care have promoted the survival of greater than 90% of pediatric patients. As adults with congenital heart disease (ACHD) have lifespans approaching that of the general population, there is a growing call to understand the experience of living with this childhood-onset chronic condition. Hospitalists are often the primary inpatient [...]

Background: Health-related social needs (HRSN) are social and economic conditions that adversely affect health. Housing instability, food insecurity, and unreliable transportation may influence decisions during hospitalization, including care transitions. Numerous screening tools have been implemented in ambulatory and emergency care settings to capture HRSN and guide coordination of care. However, disability, which has profound implications [...]

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 Centers of Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) in 2024 will require hospitals to screen and report two of the following five health-related social needs (HRSN): food insecurity, housing instability, transportation needs, utility difficulties, and interpersonal safety (1). These regulations improve screening, however, institutions are still left with questions on how to address these HRSN, [...]

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 [...]