This Data Note examines the extent of community health center involvement in systematic efforts to screen patients for the presence of social determinants of health and concludes that targeted grant support and Medicaid performance investments for the costs associated with social risk screening and reporting are needed for universal engagement by community health centers.
Collectively, regulatory pressures, organizational strategy, and market forces influenced Medicaid Managed Care Organization’s efforts to address social determinants of health, leading to a normalization of their role in addressing members' social needs within a medical paradigm.
This national study of the roles and activities of community health workers supported by Medicaid Managed Care Organizations finds that community health workers employed by Managed Care Organizations reported receiving significantly more training and benefits from their employers than community health workers who were contracted through other organizations.
Overall, community health workers roles in Medicaid Managed Care Organizations appear to focus on supporting clinical care and making referrals for social issues, rather than addressing community-level concerns, according to these national, cross-sectional survey results.
This analysis of a rural community’s efforts to address the health and social needs of its low-income residents found that Medicaid members faced resource challenges, including insufficient affordable housing and limited numbers of bilingual providers and behavioral health providers.
This report focuses on the care coordination functions that support the interventions and services within a whole-child approach to children’s health care.
This report describes parents’ experiences with their children’s Medi-Cal coverage and their recommendations for improving children’s health care, as well as how health plans can collaborate with families on systems change.
This report examines Medi-Cal managed care as a tool to advance child health equity, and it looks at the extent to which managed care plans can play a central role in Medi-Cal responding to social drivers of health and health-related social needs, particularly for children’s health.
Despite a need for financing reforms that better incentivize addressing patient whole health and wellness, the lack of clear standardization of social determinants of health screening tools, interoperable data collection systems, lack of robust health-related social services expenditure data, and financing uncertainties and insecurities present significant challenges for value-based payment arrangements, according to this analysis.