Today, 80 percent of morbidity worldwide is caused by factors other than healthcare delivery. Griffin Myers, MD, argues that a shift to value for patients will be the inevitable result of striving for the highest quality of care. He also explains how optimizing and investing in social determinants of health can benefit both patients and providers.
“I finish where I started, which is to say, that I would encourage us to think about are we giving patients what they need or are we giving them what we are selling them? I would challenge us to recognize that there is an incredible value – not only for our patients, but for us – in investing in social determinants, and supporting patients in optimizing those determinants.” – Griffin Myers
Key takeaways:
- Griffin Myers defines social determinants as factors that dictate a patient’s health, and argues for taking responsibility for those factors as leaders in the space.
- He also argues that providers who invest in supporting patients in their social determinants and helping to optimize them will create value – in the form of better patient outcomes, lower costs, or (as is often the case) both.
- The business model of Oak Street Health, which Griffin Myers co-runs, is based on an understanding of social determinants and the impact they have on patient health. The value-based care model includes the following: Covering all downstream costs with the full patient premium; running community centers for patients and visitors; providing education and information on primary care and available services; transporting patients to clinical appointments.
About the speaker
Griffin Myers, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Oak Street Health, a company of value-based primary care centers for adults on Medicare in medically underserved communities.
