GNYHA’s recent Social Determinants of Health (SDH) Learning Series webinar highlighted screening for health-related social needs (HRSNs) in pediatric settings and how those screenings can be conducted appropriately.
Stacy Biddinger Wathen, Director of Community Health, Children’s Hospital Association, and Priya Bathija, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Nyoo Health, discussed findings from their Screening for Social Drivers of Health report. The report found that most children’s hospitals have begun their screening programs with a screening pilot and expanded over time, making the case to hospital leadership while building trust among patients, families, and care teams. Many children’s hospitals use hybrid screening tools, which include combinations of questions from validated screeners and in-house experts. Many hospitals also offer self-administered screenings taken via online portals, forms, and tablets, which allow families to answer questions privately.
Christine Sander, Senior Director of Infant and Child Wellness at Nationwide Children’s Hospital (NCH) in Columbus, OH, discussed the hospital’s SDH Screening & Community Health Worker Program, which screened 230,000 patient families last year. She highlighted the successes and challenges of the program, which involves embedding community health workers into the NCH Primary Care Network and partner Prenatal Care Clinics.
The SDH Learning Series is part of GNYHA’s programming to support members’ broader SDH efforts, including the Medicare program’s screening and reporting requirements and related activities under New York’s Section 1115 Medicaid waiver.