Manatt’s Jocelyn Guyer, a managing director with Manatt Health, spoke to PatientEngagementHIT about social determinants of health (SDOH) and how some healthcare experts can develop community health programming to better facilitate patient health.
Guyer said health plans need to develop informal programs based on what they believe their populations need, and they should seek outside help in developing these programs.
“We do see a lot of plans that are focused on SDOH and feel like it’s a strength of theirs that they’re able to address the social economic issue,” Guyer explained. “In those instances, plans want to encourage their Medicaid director and their Medicaid agency to put provisions in the managed care contract encouraging focus on SDOH.”
She also said the health plans should focus on areas where they will have the biggest impact.
“Health plans should start with a good detailed look at their data on who’s driving healthcare expenditures and see whether they can assess the extent to which social determinants of health are a key factor in that,” she explained. “Plans are engaging in risk segmentation to figure out who is driving costs.”