In 2019, we set out to understand, within a screening conversation, how we can best gather insights that get to the most critical individual member needs. We talked to Humana associates who are on the frontlines with members every day. An internal associate team investigated who, inside and outside of the company, screened for social determinants of health. Their end goal is to align on screening criteria, train those responsible for data gathering, warehousing and connecting the data and share the insights both internally and externally to improve our members’ experience and enhance our ability to partner with community resources.
Exceeding our goal
We can only address needs when we know they exist. Thus, we set a goal in 2019 of completing one million screenings for social needs within our member population, and we far exceeded that goal by completing more than 2.6 million SDOH screenings. We found many members have more than one social need. Because health is complex and multi-faceted, we are committed to learning and doing more.