The conditions in which people are born, live, learn and work play a significant role in health. These factors are referred to as social drivers of health (SDOH) and are increasingly recognized as pivotal to improving and maintaining health.
Vanderbilt Health recently launched Phase One of the process in the adult inpatient enterprise to screen for social factors that impact health. This screening initiative initially focuses on five areas: food security, housing stability, transportation, ability to pay utilities and interpersonal safety.
This initiative builds on many years of work in the adult and children’s enterprise to screen for social factors that impact health and reinforces institutional commitments to Health Equity and Innovation. This work also reflects key actions in our Racial Equity Plan including convening a Social Drivers Committee and establishing governance structures to support these efforts.
The initial phase focuses on adults in the inpatient setting, and pilots were launched in two adult ambulatory sites — Brentwood Primary Care and Brentwood Women’s Health. Additionally, long-standing SDOH screening efforts in pediatrics and at Monroe Carell Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt will continue.
“Our organization has had several social drivers of health initiatives underway for years, but this new initiative will be a game changer as VUMC increases actions to advance health equity,” said Consuelo H. Wilkins, MD, MSCI, Senior Vice President and Senior Associate Dean for Health Equity and Inclusive Excellence. “In alignment with regulatory agencies such as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services as well as The Joint Commission, we are expanding this crucial work and connecting initiatives that were previously siloed. The greater insight we gain into the social factors affecting our patients, the more we can positively impact their health.”
“We respect that every person is dealing with an individual set of circumstances. At the same time, I’m looking forward to seeing how the data we capture reveals trends within our own patient population as well as patient trends across the nation,” said Jenny Slayton, DNP, RN, Senior Vice President for Quality, Safety and Risk Prevention at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. “Screening for social drivers will help us determine where the gaps are so these can be addressed while aiming to improve outcomes for our patients.”
The first phase launched Sept. 4 in Vanderbilt University, Vanderbilt Wilson County, Vanderbilt Bedford and Vanderbilt Tullahoma-Harton hospitals, excluding Labor & Delivery and any patients waiting to be admitted to the emergency departments.
All clinical staff who were enrolled in August are asked to complete the brief corresponding Learning Exchange module called “Understanding Social Factors that Impact Health: Overview and Screening Process” available here by Oct. 31. New clinical hires will also be enrolled and asked to complete this training within 60 days of assignment. Scripting to guide conversations with patients is also available in edocs here. (Must be on VPN.) A comprehensive guide to changes in eStar is accessible here.
Where possible, staff will continue to provide information about resources to address these social drivers of health, and all After Visit Summaries (AVS) include language that calls out resources. The AVS is translated into Spanish and Arabic. Additional resources to respond to positive screens are under development. Along with extending screening to other inpatient departments, these enhanced resources will be rolled out in future phases of the rollout.
