Letter From the Editor

Letter From the Editor:

RISE, LIKE THE HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY, TURNS ITS FOCUS ON SOCIAL DETERMINANTS

Ilene MacDonald Editor, RISE

The health care industry was slow to recognize that a person’s lifestyle, living conditions, and employment have a far greater impact on overall health and outcomes than the medical care he or she receives. Despite this, health plans, health care providers, government agencies, and community-based organizations are quickly gaining ground in this area, working together to develop programs that tackle social determinants of health.

In the summer issue of our quarterly newsletter, we feature two examples of these efforts, programs that we hope will make you feel good about working in the health care industry and inspire you to continue to find ways to connect members to resources that can help them overcome barriers to good health.

You’ll learn about the work of the Southwest Texas Crisis Collaboration, which was formed to respond to the large number of people in the San Antonio area who were chronically ill, homeless, or had a mental illness and frequently sought care in local emergency rooms and inpatient units (see P.12). Collaboration is in the name of the organization for a reason: members had to cooperate with one another and reach a consensus to create a regional emergency response system that navigates patients to the right care, at the right time, and at the right place.

Partnerships are also an important component of UnitedHealthcare’s housing and integrated wraparound care model for superusers of the health care system who are currently homeless (see P.9). Unlike most health care models, which are built around body parts, the health plan’s model is built around people, Kathleen Stillo explains. Once these superusers have a home to call their own and no longer need to worry where they will sleep that night, they can finally focus on their health.

Is your organization working on a program that addresses social determinants of health? We want to hear from you. Please email me at IMacDonald@risehealth.org to tell me about your efforts. Your program may be featured in an upcoming issue of our quarterly newsletter.