Need for payer-provider partnerships in addressing social determinants of health

Abstract

This article examines payer-provider partnerships in social determinants of health (SDoH) interventions, identifies important factors for an approach centered around return on investment (ROI) using integrated delivery and finance systems as case studies, and advocates for increased collaboration between payers and providers when addressing SDoH. Despite the numerous examples where payers and providers have attempted to independently address SDoH, there is limited evidence for the success of these interventions. Since most stakeholders individually do not have access to financial and clinical data, identifying an ROI for SDoH interventions is logistically challenging, but even when these data are available, stakeholders may not want to share their learnings due to negative findings and/or unwillingness to share proprietary information. These issues are further amplified by the effects of COVID-19 and its worsening effect on widening health disparities, but many payers and providers have risen to the challenge together. This article advocates for the importance of payer-provider partnerships to address SDoH and uses examples of integrated delivery and finance systems as case studies of how these partnerships could function.