Cerner Launches Social Determinants of Health Solution to Advance Health Equity

Cerner today announced a new solution, Cerner Determinants of Health, designed to help providers address healthcare inequities.

Cerner Determinants of Health is a dashboard and supporting set of tools, integrated into the Cerner electronic health record, to help clinicians pinpoint disparities and suggest goals and resources within the patient’s care plan to help target intervention opportunities.

The pandemic and social unrest have highlighted long-standing health disparities. Identifying social risk factors such as housing instability, transportation barriers and employment help fill fragmented gaps in health and social care. Cerner is making it a priority to address social determinants of health as a primary approach to advancing health equity. The company previewed its SDOH strategy last fall at the Cerner Health Conference.

The solution is directly embedded within Cerner’s EHR for ease of use by clinicians. A key differentiator of Cerner Determinants of Health is its ability to identify community-level vulnerabilities and a patient’s social needs. The dashboard within the technology uses combined geospatial, public data, and patient-clinician insights to provide a view of the conditions in which people live. This allows organizations to provide targeted outreach through community programming. This is exemplified by Cerner client Northern Light Health, who is using the crucial insights to provide help better care at the intersection of a patient’s health and social care needs.