Danville, Pa.-based Geisinger, Chicago-based Rush University Medical Center, Boston-based Tufts Medicine, Epic and Oracle Cerner are among the participants in a project to screen for and share patient data on social determinants of health in EHRs, the White House said Sept. 28.
The program aims to standardize the way social determinants of health data, including food insecurity, is shared electronically, and pilot and evaluate new social screening tools in EHRs. Standards-setting organizations will then work to scale these techniques to lower the screening burden on clinicians.
The coalition also includes Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Sanford Health; Meditech; The Joint Commission; St. Louis-based SSM Health; the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Clearwater, Fla.-based BayCare Health System; Newport News, Va.-based Riverside Health System; and HL7 International.
The initiative was part of the Biden administration's $8 billion commitment during the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health on Sept. 28 to reduce health disparities.