Payment Structures That Support Social Care Integration With Clinical Care: Social Deprivation Indices and Novel Payment Models

The U.S. lags behind other developed countries in the use of indices and novel reimbursement models to adjust for social determinants of health (SDH) in medicine. This may be due in part to the inadequate body of research regarding outcomes after implementation of healthcare payments designed to address SDH. This perspective article focuses on four models employed both internationally and domestically to outline the implementation, successes, limitations, and research needed to support national application of SDH models. A brief history of prior models is introduced asa primer to the current U.S. system. Internationally, the United Kingdom and New Zealand employ small area indices to adjust healthcare dollar allocation based on increased social need in an area.

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By |2021-07-21T13:42:07-04:00December 1st, 2019|