California Medicaid Issues New Guidance On Using Diagnostic Codes To Collect Data On Social Determinants Of Health

On August 10, 2021, the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) released new guidance to the state’s Medicaid managed care plans (MCPs) about using diagnostic codes to collect data on the incidence and prevalence of social determinants of health (SDOH) affecting Medicaid beneficiaries. SDOH are consumer’s needs for non-medical good and services that if unmet are likely to affect the consumer’s health outcomes. DHCS issued a list of 18 DHCS Priority SDOH Codes, based on the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM).

The codes must be incorporated into all coding . . .