Two major medical groups join forces to reduce social barriers to health

UnitedHealthcare and the American Medical Association are teaming up to reduce the negative impact that social determinants — factors such as housing, food, and transportation — can have on health. The groups plan to standardize how data about social determinants is collected, processed, and integrated into the health care system. The initiative will also make available nearly two dozen new billing codes specific to social factors that physicians can enter when seeing patients. Entering these codes would then trigger referrals to local services that could help patients with additional resources.