ONC creates SDOH toolkit for communities

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology has developed a toolkit that gathers community engagement, health IT standards, infrastructure, interoperability and governance information to help support communities working to achieve health equity.

WHY IT MATTERS

Non-uniform data collection, varied healthcare system designs and differences in information technology capacities can challenge SDOH service coordination.

ONC seeks to advance the use of interoperable, standardized data to represent social needs and conditions and in 2021, organized a panel of experts within the health and human service ecosystem to identify key considerations for interoperability and implementation of SDOH information exchange.

The toolkit is built around community readiness and stewardship, policy, financing, user support and learning networks.

ONC designed the SDOH Toolkit as a practical guide for collaborative assessment, design, implementation and governance of health IT systems, according to a new blog post announcing its availability.

Structured around 10 foundational elements, the toolkit includes questions for consideration that can aid community groups and healthcare organizations as they build or expand on SDOH data initiatives. 

"We’ve designed this resource as a useful starting point for use across sectors, contexts and communities to support efforts to inform health equity and more informed care," said ONC officials.