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How Patient Engagement Platforms Address Social Determinants of Health

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How Patient Engagement Platforms Address Social Determinants of Health

As a provider in the mental or behavioral health care industry, you know how an individual’s circumstances can affect their ability to access or continue treatment. For example, a client who lives in poor housing conditions, faced poverty or did not receive a quality education can experience many limitations in seeking and utilizing health services.

Language barriers, transportation, inability to afford medication and other social determinants of health play a significant role in the unfair and avoidable differences in health status. Implementing a patient engagement platform is an actionable step you can take to address these determinants and increase treatment accessibility for all. Social determinants of health data integration can lead to improved health outcomes and improved awareness among mental health professionals.

What Are Social Determinants of Health (SDOH)?

Social determinants of health (SDOH) are the social, personal and environmental conditions where people are born, grow up, learn, work, play and age. SDOHs are also referred to as nonmedical factors that influence health outcomes because of their direct impact on a person’s functioning, health and quality of life. There are five SDOH categories:

  1. Economic stability
  2. Education access and quality
  3. Health care access and quality
  4. Neighborhood and built environment
  5. Social and community context

Social determinants of health can significantly contribute to health outcomes and disparities. According to the World Health Organization, SDOH can account for up to 55% of health outcomes.

For example, individuals who lack access to nutritious foods and physical activity opportunities are at an increased risk of certain health conditions like obesity or diabetes. Alternatively, those who live in environments with polluted water and air may experience adverse health outcomes even if they do eat a balanced diet and get regular exercise. 

SDOHs can also impact an individual’s education, language and literacy skills and early childhood development, which can directly influence their employment and job security in adulthood. A lack of quality job opportunities can elevate financial instability, food insecurity and access to affordable health services. 

Poverty and discrimination are other examples of SDOH that can prevent health equity by limiting access to safe housing and transportation. Racism is an interpersonal and systemic social determinant of health, which can have a profound effect on how money, health care and social support resources are distributed in communities. These conscious and unconscious biases can create many barriers to mental and behavioral health treatment.

The Role of Patient Engagement Platforms

As a dedicated provider in a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) or similar mental health organization, your clients are your top priority. However, the numbers of those in need of mental health support continue to increase across demographics, making your time even more valuable and your workload overwhelmed. Providers like you also have to manage a handful of challenges in the mental and behavioral health care industry, including heavy caseloads, no-shows, low reimbursement rates, administrative burdens and short staffing. 

The need for a solution has never been more prevalent. Modern patient engagement platforms have the features and capabilities to address some of the most pressing pain points, including: 

  • Enhancing access to care: People often have busy schedules and lives, which can make it challenging to keep up with their health and appointments. Patient engagement solutions can send automated appointment reminders to keep your clients in the loop and encourage them to stick to their treatment. Easy self-scheduling tools ensure clients can schedule, reschedule or cancel their appointments at will to find the most convenient time and location for their needs. 
  • Improving health literacy: Digital intake forms can lower your client’s time commitment and make it easy for them to understand their responsibilities and what they can expect from your services. HIPAA-compliant SDOH data collection and intake software can help you identify risk factors in your clients and provide more effective care. Digital intake software also automates your administrative workflow so you can save time and increase productivity. Translation services improve health literacy even further by allowing clients to complete their necessary forms from any device and in any language.
  • Boosting client engagement: Patient engagement platforms for SDOH with HIPAA-compliant video and group conferencing reduce common barriers to mental health treatment, such as location and transportation. Digital therapy and other telehealth solutions can also increase your availability and that of other mental health professionals in your practice so you can increase client intake. Continuous communication features can improve care delivery, reduce the likelihood of no-shows and keep clients and providers connected. 
reducing barriers to mental health treatment

By reducing barriers to mental health treatment with these features, you can spend less time going back and forth with clients over scheduling and focus on your care initiatives, such as client clustering based on social determinants. Taking the guesswork out of your client’s registration and appointment experience can help improve attendance, participation and access to timely care.

Addressing Specific SDOH with Patient Engagement Software

SDOH can affect an individual’s ability to learn about mental health treatment, access local care and afford services. Here’s a breakdown of how a patient engagement platform specifically addresses SDOH inequities:

  • Economic stability: Appointment reminders via email and text help clients stay organized with upcoming co-pays and expenses. Self-scheduling tools can help clients manage health care costs by avoiding no-shows and late cancellation fees.
  • Education access and quality: In addition to digital intake forms, your patient engagement platform can also provide educational resources and culturally relevant materials. Once clients begin treatment, you can create digital workflows specific to their needs, including treatment plans, clinical assessments and other psychiatry forms that can help them learn about mental health.  
  • Health care access and quality: Patient engagement solutions facilitate HIPAA-compliant telehealth services and seamless care coordination — resulting in improved health care access and quality. Unlike complex portals, client engagement technology makes it easy for clients to connect to their digital sessions without any issues.
  • Neighborhood and built environment: When clients can more easily access mental health treatment through patient engagement solutions, it also means you can help them further by connecting them with local resources and services, such as group therapy, medication management, psychiatric programs and outpatient treatment.
  • Social and community context: By utilizing a patient engagement platform, you can better identify SDOH risk factors and contribute to improved patient outcomes. This solution can seamlessly connect you with your clients, allowing you to build online support communities and foster peer connections.

See How Patient Engagement Software Can Improve Mental Health Outcomes

Social determinants of health can significantly impact how clients access mental health treatment and connect with providers. With a patient engagement platform that prioritizes convenient solutions to these barriers, you can create a better experience for clients while reducing your administrative burden. 

Mend integrates seamlessly with your mental and behavioral health EHR and supports both in-person and telehealth appointments. Whether you need to tackle rising health care costs or organizational inefficiencies, our solution can help you contribute to a more equitable health care system. We invite you to schedule a demo of Mend to learn how we can help you improve client outcomes in the face of social determinants of health.

See How Patient Engagement Software Can Improve Mental Health Outcomes