Pharma’s Role in Addressing Social Determinants of Health

The CDC has defined social determinants of health (SDoH) as “the circumstances in which people are born, grow up, live, work, and age.” Those circumstances also include the systems in place that offer healthcare and services to a community. In turn, all of the foregoing conditions are shaped by a wider set of forces: economics, social policies, and politics. SDoH have become an important concern for payers and health systems. These stakeholders acknowledge outcomes and costs depend on factors that go beyond medical care. They are transforming their delivery systems to address social risk factors, aiming for better community engagement and clinical and financial outcomes in an environment that is increasingly incentivizing value-based performance.