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Accelerating integration of social needs into mainstream healthcare to achieve health equity in the COVID-19 era

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2022

Aparna Kulkarni Open the ORCID record for Aparna Kulkarni [Opens in a new window] ,
Melissa Davey-Rothwell  and
Elias Mossialos Open the ORCID record for Elias Mossialos [Opens in a new window]
Aparna Kulkarni*
Affiliation:
Cohen Children's Medical Center, Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/ Northwell, New Hyde Park, New York, USA
Melissa Davey-Rothwell
Affiliation:
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Elias Mossialos
Affiliation:
Department of Health Policy, London School of Economics, London, UK
*
*Corresponding author. Email: aparnapat@yahoo.com
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Abstract

It is known that social inequities result in health disparities in outcomes, highlighted in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This commentary discusses the actionable initiatives that have been implemented to address social inequities in healthcare in the United States. The publicly available social needs screening tools and International Classification of Disease Systems-10 Z codes for social determinants of health are introduced. In this context, policies, health system strategies and the larger role of implementation science in recognizing and alleviating the social needs are discussed.

Keywords

Alternate payment modelhealth equitypopulation healthsocial determinants of healthsocial needs

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Type
Perspective
Information
Health Economics, Policy and Law , Volume 18 , Issue 1 , January 2023 , pp. 82 - 87
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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