Enabling Greater Connected Care With Social Determinants of Health and Digital Health Solutions

Despite the critical role of SDOH, providers have not been consistent about recognizing and documenting these factors for a specific patient or even a population of patients. Yet, having this information should be a fundamental aspect of their efforts to build healthier populations and larger connected care networks.

The challenge in obtaining, aggregating, and integrating SDOH data is that this type of information often comes from non-traditional sources to which, historically, providers have not had access. Digital health solutions represent one particularly notable and flourishing source. User-centric tools such as mobile health apps, telehealth offerings and IoT and biometrics devices, including wearables, are paving the way for increased patient health engagement and connected care options and helping providers better understand patients’ social-environmental context.