Social Risk Screening Has Increased at Physician Practices
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, Jan. 3, 2025 -- From 2017 to 2022, there was an increase in social risk screening among U.S. physician practices, but only 27 percent of practices screened for all five social risks in 2022, according to a study published online Jan. 3 in JAMA Network Open.
Amanda L. Brewster, Ph.D., from the School of Public Health at the University of California in Berkeley, and colleagues examined trends in screening for five common social risks (food, housing, utilities, interpersonal violence, and transportation) among U.S. physician practices in an analysis using a nationally representative survey of physician practices, conducted in 2017 and 2022. A total of 3,442 practice survey responses were assessed.
The researchers found that 27 percent of practices reported screening for all five of the social risks in 2022, which marked an increase from 15 percent in 2017. A significant increase in the mean number of social risks screened per practice was seen in unadjusted results, from 1.71 to 2.34 in 2017 and 2022, respectively. Between 2017 and 2022, practice characteristics associated with screening for more social risks remained consistent and included being a federally qualified health center, having higher innovation culture scores, having higher advanced information system scores, and having higher payment reform exposure scores (incidence rate ratios, 1.550, 1.012, 1.003, and 1.002, respectively).
"As policies and programs that support social care integration into health care continue to be tested and disseminated, it will be important to examine how social risk screening, referral, and service delivery processes are associated with patient outcomes," the authors write.
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted January 2025
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