I am currently leading an evaluation of two distinct approaches to social needs screening and referrals in Michigan. The first leverages the local expertise of a community health worker to work hands on with patients to address social needs prior to receiving bariatric surgery, while the second uses electronic screening and referrals to Michigan 211 to improve scalability to a large number of oncology clinics. While there is much interest in interventions to address patients’ social needs to prevent disease and improve health outcomes, there is limited evidence regarding which methods of identifying needs and connecting patients to relevant resources work best, so I am excited to have the opportunity to start addressing this important question.
I also recently wrapped up an evaluation of a novel statewide electronic community resource referral platform in Oregon. Referral platforms may improve efficiency in connecting patients to community resources to address their social needs, and while I found that to often be the case, I also found several opportunities to improve platform implementation to ensure that community-based organizations are supported in the adoption of this new technology and than inequities are not created or perpetuated.
I am excited to continue to find ways to leverage informatics tools to advance health equity. I have been focused on interventions to identify and address patients' social needs, which is a tall order in a fast-paced clinical environment. Early evidence shows that informatics screening and referral tools may take some of the workflow burden off of clinical staff, paving the way for improved health outcomes and reduced healthcare disparities.