Addressing Some of the Social Determinants of Health

Discussions about the social determinants of health have been much in the news lately. Here's a definition of the term from the WHO (see:Social determinants of health)The social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age. These circumstances are shaped by the distribution of money, power and resources at global, national and local levels.The social determinants of health are mostly responsible for health inequities - the unfair and avoidable differences in health status seen within and between countries.If you believe that a person's healthy life can be predicted by his or her zip code, the next question one needs to ask is how to help to ameliorate this situation. One small but important step is to ensure that lower income patients have reliable transportation for their medical appointments. Cerner is addressing this problem by integrating Uber ride booking into physicians' work flow (see:Cerner teams up with Uber to help patients get to appointments). Below are the details:Cerner and Uber are collaborating to help get patients to and from their doctor's appointments – addressing a major social determinant of health that hinders the cost-effective management of chronic conditions. The Uber Health app will soon be available for integration into Cerner ’s electronic health record, enabling easy access within physician's workflow. Doctors will be able to schedule a ride for their patients wherever U...
Source: Lab Soft News - Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Tags: Medical Consumerism Medical Ethics Medical Research Population Health Public Health Source Type: blogs