CMS has released several resources to help support federal agencies, states and local and tribal governments to better coordinate healthcare, public health and social services, including a 54-page playbook for addressing social determinants of health.
The playbook highlights actions that federal agencies are taking to support health by improving the social circumstances of individuals. It includes programs by HHS, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Environmental Protection Agency to align investments to finance community infrastructure, offer grants to empower communities to address health related social needs and promote coordinated use of resources and data to improve health outcomes.
"It is clear that the health of our people does not exist in a vacuum, but it is affected by our access to stable housing, healthy food, and clean air to breathe," HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a Nov. 16 news release. "It is crucial for HHS to tackle healthcare and public health holistically by addressing patients' social conditions. Today's announcement will help to provide opportunities to improve equal access to healthcare for every American and make progress toward a health system that improves healthcare outcomes for all Americans instead of [an] advantaged few."
HHS has also released a call to action to address health-related social needs and a Medicaid and CHIP health-related social needs framework to accompany the playbook.