Population Health News

Survey Finds Most Healthcare Orgs Struggle to Collect, Use SDOH Data

AHIMA revealed that eight in 10 healthcare organizations currently collect social determinants of health data but face challenges related to its collection, coding, and use.

social determinants of health data use

Source: Getty Images

By Shania Kennedy

- A white paper published last week by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) shows that a majority of surveyed healthcare organizations are collecting social determinants of health (SDOH) data but various challenges related to data collection, coding, and use prevent this information from being leveraged effectively to improve health outcomes.

The survey, conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago on AHIMA’s behalf, aimed to better understand how SDOH is collected, coded, and used, and with this improved understanding, inform educational tools, resources, and policy recommendations to support the standardization and use of SDOH data.

NORC surveyed 2,637 AHIMA members from a pool of 41,215 AHIMA members and non-members using a 27-question web survey. Survey recipients worked in roles related to health information data collection and management, including health information management (HIM) leaders and their teams, coding professionals, and C-suite executives.