Addressing health-related social needs reduces the total cost of care. That was the central finding of a recently released evaluation of accountable health communities—Accountable Health Communities (AHC) Model Evaluation.

The accountable health community model was launched in 2017. In the study, 28 organizations were paid to provide Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries with screening for  unmet health-related social needs; referred consumers to community services to address those needs; and provided navigation support to assist those consumers in accessing those services. The model focused on five HRSNs: housing instability, food insecurity, transportation problems, utility difficulties, and interpersonal violence.

There were two accountable health community models. One—the assistance track—provided the basic screening, referral, and navigation services. The other—the alignment track—also added community stakeholder engagement. The assistance track resulted…