SHM Converge Scientific Abstract ePoster Gallery-Assessment of Health-Related Social Needs Screening for Hospitalized Patients

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This study examined how well hospitalized patients’ health-related social needs (HRSN) are identified when screening is done by clinical staff versus research staff, and whether different screening tools produce similar results.<br /><br />At a large urban academic hospital, nurses began screening newly admitted medicine patients in April 2021 for six social needs, including usual source of care, medication affordability, housing, food, transportation, social support, and mental health. Research staff then interviewed 223 patients using both the hospital’s screening instrument and the CMS Accountable Health Communities (AHC) HRSN questionnaire.<br /><br />The main finding was that agreement between clinical staff and research staff using the same hospital tool was poor to moderate, with kappa values ranging from -0.03 to 0.58. Clinical staff generally identified fewer patients with needs related to medication affordability, housing, food, transportation, and mental health, but identified more patients with needs related to usual source of care and social support. In contrast, when research staff used two different instruments, agreement for housing, food, and transportation was substantial, with kappa values between 0.67 and 0.76.<br /><br />The study suggests that the way HRSN screening is conducted strongly affects results. Possible reasons for weaker clinical screening include workload, workflow constraints, and patient reluctance to share sensitive information with clinical staff.<br /><br />Overall, the authors conclude that more research is needed to understand barriers to effective HRSN screening and to help hospitals choose better screening approaches.

Asset Subtitle

Kevin J. O'Leary

Meta Tag

Author List Carol Haywood, Clayton Barnes, Jane S. Kim, Kevin J. O'Leary, Tara Lagu

Category Research

Concept Health-Related Social Needs Screening

Concept Hospitalized Patients

Concept Hospital Care

Concept Health Equity

Concept Screening Tool

Distinguished Finalist

Presenter Organization Northwestern University

Presenting Author Kevin J. O'Leary

Track Other

Keywords

health-related social needs

HRSN screening

hospitalized patients

clinical staff

research staff

screening agreement

CMS AHC questionnaire

social determinants of health

kappa values

hospital screening tool

Health-Related Social Needs Screening

Hospitalized Patients

Hospital Care

Health Equity

Screening Tool