HASA, a health information exchange in Texas, launched a pilot program with San Antonio-based Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas to add social determinants of health data alongside patient clinical information, the San Antonio Business Journal reports.
Here are four things to know about the program.
1. Methodist Healthcare Ministries, a nonprofit organization aiming to improve access to healthcare for uninsured and low-income families and owner of San Antonio-based Methodist Healthcare System, awarded HASA a $175,000 grant to add socioeconomic data to its repository.
2. A preliminary goal of the project is to give physicians a comprehensive view of patient history, including social and demographic factors that may influence their health status. The organizers hope care managers will be able to use this data to connect patients with needed social services.
3. A long-term component of the program also involves research. George Thomas, COO of Methodist Healthcare Ministries, said the program collaborators hope to identify some of the root cases to common health issues.
4. Vince Fonseca, MD, medical director of HASA and a professor at the San Antonio-based University of the Incarnate Word's School of Osteopathic Medicine, will manage the project.