Harnessing Digital Information to Improve Population Health

Health systems do not systematically collect information on social determinants of health (SDH) — the conditions in which people are born, live, grow, and age — despite knowing that they have a big impact on individual and population health. But the shift from reimbursing providers for the volume of services they deliver (fee for service) to the quality of patient outcomes relative to cost (value) is causing them to focus more on maintaining patients health and not just curing disease.