NAM report offers CMS guidance on social risk factor data sources

The National Academy of Medicine today released a report on data sources for social risk factors that affect the health outcomes of Medicare beneficiaries, and strategies to collect data on these indicators. Requested by the Department of Health and Human Services, the report identifies three broad categories of data sources: the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; health care providers and health plans; and other government agencies. The committee that produced the report recommends that CMS focus first on data that government agencies already have, then consider collecting additional information on relatively stable social risk factors when Medicare beneficiaries enroll and developing area-level measures for risk factors that reflect a person’s context or environment. Where social risk factors change over time and have clinical utility, the committee said requiring data collection through electronic health records or other types of provider reporting may be the best approach. It also said inclusion of some risk factors may not be warranted due to substantial barriers to data collection. The report is the fourth in a series of five brief consensus reports requested by HHS to identify social risk factors that affect the health outcomes of Medicare beneficiaries and methods to account for these factors in Medicare payment programs.