The juice is worth the squeeze: How efforts to address social determinants of health pay off
Abstract
The healthcare industry is increasingly investing in initiatives upstream of the site of care to address broader population health issues and the downstream economic impacts of social determinants of health (SDOH). Organisations continually struggle, however, to define how to support a business case of high-impact, sustainable SDOH efforts. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) used publicly available data to conduct a diagnostic assessment of prominent healthcare providers’ existing ‘upstream interventions’ and produced a maturity score that reflects the success of these providers’ SDOH initiatives. This paper details three industry examples of leading ‘upstream interventions’ and examines the efficacy of each example in addressing SDOH. While healthcare providers can approach SDOH from a multitude of dimensions, their primary focus to support their business case should be formulating a strategy around their unique strengths relative to competitors in the context of the communities they serve. Further, providers that fail to prioritise SDOH run the risk of falling behind those who do push upstream initiatives, as costs of care continue to rise and brand recognition as a community leader becomes increasingly important.
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Author's Biography
Ginger Pilgrim is a principal in the Health Industries Advisory practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) based in Memphis, Tennessee; she joined the firm in 2004 and is focused on strategic transformation and operational performance improvement in the healthcare provider space. She leads PwC’s provider supply chain operations efforts. Ginger has over 25 years of experience in healthcare, including public accounting, as well as more than 10 years within the finance division at a major academic medical centre. She has led efforts to achieve operational efficiencies, rationalise service levels and transform delivery of administrative and support services at large health systems and academic medical centres. Her experience includes large-scale project management, operations and process improvement, systems implementation project support and strategy development. Additionally, she has contributed to the development of industry thought leadership through reporting on clinical workforce issues through PwC’s Health Research Institute as well as helping to shape innovative thinking around the business imperative to address health and social disparities. Ginger holds a bachelor of science in accounting from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She is a graduate of Leadership Memphis, a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Healthcare Financial Management Association.
Citation
Pilgrim, Ginger (2019, December 1). The juice is worth the squeeze: How efforts to address social determinants of health pay off. In the Management in Healthcare: A Peer-Reviewed Journal, Volume 4, Issue 2. https://doi.org/10.69554/XXZF3472.
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