TY - JOUR
T1 - Community Vital Signs
T2 - Taking the Pulse of the Community While Caring for Patients
AU - Hughes, Lauren S.
AU - Phillips, Robert L.
AU - DeVoe, Jennifer E.
AU - Bazemore, Andrew W.
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2017 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2016/5/1
Y1 - 2016/5/1
N2 - In 2014 both the Institute of Medicine and the National Quality Forum recommended the inclusion of social determinants of health data in electronic health records (EHRs). Both entities primarily focus on collecting socioeconomic and health behavior data directly from individual patients. The burden of reliably, accurately, and consistently collecting such information is substantial, and it may take several years before a primary care team has actionable data available in its EHR. A more reliable and less burdensome approach to integrating clinical and social determinant data exists and is technologically feasible now. Community vital signs aggregated community-level information about the neighborhoods in which our patients live, learn, work, and play convey contextual social deprivation and associated chronic disease risks based on where patients live. Given widespread access to "big data" and geospatial technologies, community vital signs can be created by linking aggregated population health data with patient addresses in EHRs. These linked data, once imported into EHRs, are a readily available resource to help primary care practices understand the context in which their patients reside and achieve important health goals at the patient, population, and policy levels.
AB - In 2014 both the Institute of Medicine and the National Quality Forum recommended the inclusion of social determinants of health data in electronic health records (EHRs). Both entities primarily focus on collecting socioeconomic and health behavior data directly from individual patients. The burden of reliably, accurately, and consistently collecting such information is substantial, and it may take several years before a primary care team has actionable data available in its EHR. A more reliable and less burdensome approach to integrating clinical and social determinant data exists and is technologically feasible now. Community vital signs aggregated community-level information about the neighborhoods in which our patients live, learn, work, and play convey contextual social deprivation and associated chronic disease risks based on where patients live. Given widespread access to "big data" and geospatial technologies, community vital signs can be created by linking aggregated population health data with patient addresses in EHRs. These linked data, once imported into EHRs, are a readily available resource to help primary care practices understand the context in which their patients reside and achieve important health goals at the patient, population, and policy levels.
KW - Population Characteristics
KW - Public Health
KW - Residence Characteristics
KW - Social Determinants of Health
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84969262505&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.3122/jabfm.2016.03.150172
DO - 10.3122/jabfm.2016.03.150172
M3 - Article
C2 - 27170802
AN - SCOPUS:84969262505
VL - 29
SP - 419
EP - 422
JO - Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine
JF - Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine
SN - 1557-2625
IS - 3
ER -