Health Leads

Elevating Physician Leaders to Address Poverty and Social Determinants of Health

Health Leads will pursue three physician-oriented projects within our larger strategy to make addressing all patients’ social needs a standard part of quality care. Combined, the proposed work will better enable physicians to lead within the healthcare sector, inform its practices and standards, and care for their patients in the manner to which they have always aspired. These projects include:

1. Elevate Physician Voices. Health Leads will work closely with physician leaders and physician organizations nationwide to elevate physician voices in the healthcare dialogue and in the development of innovative approaches to addressing patient social needs.

2. Physician-led Research. Health Leads will continue to research the medical risks associated with social determinants, the medical value of addressing social determinants, and the mechanism by which addressing social determinants impacts health outcomes.

3. Equipping Physicians with Needed Tools. Health Leads will continue to develop and distribute validated screening instruments, reliable social service information, state-of-the-art case management applications, and other tools and toolkits that enable physicians to practice the kind of healthcare that they aspire to deliver. In addition, Health Leads will provide trainings for physicians in designing social needs interventions appropriate to their clinics, patient cohorts, and local circumstances.