Reports from Durham VA Health Care System Add New Data to Research in Community Health and Medicine (Addressing Social Determinants of Health Identified by Systematic Screening in a Medicaid Accountable Care Organization: A Qualitative Study)

2021 FEB 26 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Current study results on community health and medicine have been published. According to news originating from the Durham VA Health Care System by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “Introduction/Objectives: Systematic screening for social determinants of health (SDOH), such as food and housing insecurity, is increasingly implemented in primary care, particularly in the context of Accountable Care Organizations (ACO). Despite the importance of developing effective systems for SDOH resource linkage, there is limited research examining these processes.”

Financial supporters for this research include National Institutes of Health.

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from Durham VA Health Care System: “The objective of the study was to explore facilitators and barriers to addressing SDOH identified by systematic screening in a healthcare system participating in a Medicaid ACO. This qualitative case study took place between January and March 2020. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with fifteen staff (8 community resource staff and 7 managers) from community health centers and hospitals affiliated with a large healthcare system. Interviews were transcribed, coded, and analyzed using the Framework Method. Facilitators for addressing SDOH included maintaining updated resource lists, collaborating with community organizations, having leadership buy-in, and developing a trusting relationship with patients. Barriers to addressing SDOH included high caseloads, time constraints, inefficiencies in tracking, lack of community resources, and several specific patient characteristics. Further, resource staff expressed distress associated with having to communicate to patients that they were unable to address certain needs.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Health system, community, and individual-level facilitators and barriers should be considered when developing programs for addressing SDOH. Specifically, the psychological burden on resource staff is an important and underappreciated factor that could impact patient care and lead to staff burnout.”

For more information on this research see: Addressing Social Determinants of Health Identified by Systematic Screening in a Medicaid Accountable Care Organization: A Qualitative Study. Journal of Primary Care & Community Health, 2021,12. (Journal of Primary Care & Community Health - http://journals.sagepub.com/home/jpc). The publisher for Journal of Primary Care & Community Health is SAGE Publishing.

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.1177/2150132721993651.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Julia Browne, Durham VA Health Care System, Durham, NC, USA. Additional authors for this research include Jessica L. Mccurley, Vicki Fung, Douglas E. Levy, Cheryl R. Clark, Anne N. Thorndike.

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