Accountable Health Communities Model Awardees Communicate the Value of Addressing Health-Related Social Needs
Evidence | Publications

Accountable Health Communities Model Awardees Communicate the Value of Addressing Health-Related Social Needs

Published: Sep 11, 2023
Publisher: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Health Delivery System Reforms Medicaid and CHIP Medicare Population Health Federal Advisory Services Technical Assistance Peer Learning
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Associated Project

Accountable Health Communities: Identifying and Addressing Social Determinants of Health

Time frame: 2017–2022

Prepared for:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation

Authors

Svetlana Sadovskaya

Alyssa Bosold

Key Findings
  • Awardees set clear goals for their communication efforts. These goals informed the audience for their communication, what they included in communication materials, and how they assessed their efforts.
  • To gain audience buy-in for addressing HRSNs each awardee focused on understanding the factors that motivated audiences. Tools such as preliminary discussions, focus groups, and journey mapping supported understanding of these factors.
  • Awardees monitored progress towards their goals to understand the impact of their communication efforts and identify opportunities for improvement. For example, they collected data on changes in HRSN screening rates after their communication efforts, and gathered feedback from audiences.

Accountable Health Communities (AHC) Model awardees used strategic communication both to convey the importance of addressing health-related social needs (HRSNs) to internal and external stakeholders and to increase participation in HRSN screening, referral, and community service navigation for eligible Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. This resource spotlights exemplary communication efforts from three organizations: Reading Hospital, Health Net of West Michigan, and Ballad Health. To develop a successful communication initiative, each awardee set and conveyed a clear goal through their messaging, gained audience buy-in through tailored communications, and focused on continuous quality improvement.

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