Department of Family Medicine

Clinician Awareness of Patient-Reported Health-Related Social Needs

Written by Liz Campbell | October 21, 2024

In collaboration members of the DFM (in alphabetical order - Kaitlyn Bouske Bertin, Miriam Dickinson, Russell Glasgow, and Amy Huebschmann) and members of the School of Medicine, Andrea Nederveld, MD, MPH, has published “Clinician Awareness of Patient-Reported Health-Related Social Needs: There’s Room for Improvement” in the Journal of Primary Care and Community Health.

From the abstract: "People experiencing health-related social needs (HRSNs), such as transportation insecurity, are less likely to undergo preventive health screenings. They are more likely to have worse health outcomes overall, including a higher rate of late-stage cancer diagnoses. If primary care clinicians are aware of HRSNs, they can tailor preventive care, including cancer screening approaches. Accordingly, recent guidelines recommend that clinicians “adjust” care based on HRSNs. This study assessed the level of clinician awareness of patient-reported HRSNs and congruence between clinician perception and patient-reported HRSNs."

Read the full publication.