By Monica E. Oss, Chief Executive Officer

I’m always surprised that anyone is surprised that social deprivation causes health problems and increases health care costs. (It is the same reaction I have when someone is surprised that people with a behavioral or cognitive condition need assistance in managing their physical health conditions, but a subject for a different day.)
At this…

By Sharon Hicks, MBA, MSW, Senior Associate

With so much attention on health care inequities and the impact of social determinants of health (SDOH) on consumer health outcomes and costs, the question for most provider organization executive teams is how to support consumers’ need for social supports—and how to get paid for it. Broadly speaking, social supports are services that help a…

By Monica E. Oss, Chief Executive Officer

The non-medical factors that influence health outcomes have gained increasing attention in the United States during the pandemic. While some other countries have already brought social and medical spending together, in the U.S. issues like affordable housing, food insecurity, living in unsafe conditions, and access to supports are only recently being discussed as important when…

By Monica E. Oss, Chief Executive Officer

Over 580,000 people are homeless in the United States according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) (see HUD Releases 2020 Annual Homeless Assessment Report Part 1). This figure was an annual increase of 2.2% from 2019 to 2020, a rate that had increased over the previous four years. Furthermore, the incidence…