What You Can Do Now

There are many resources on various websites to help you learn more about health equity and social determinants of health (SDoH) and form a plan to work with your patients. We’ve listed a few of them here for your convenience.

Connecting Your Patients with Resources

• 211 is a comprehensive source of local social services information in the U.S. and most of Canada. Reach out to 211 to speak with a community resource specialist in your area who can help you connect your patients with critical services and resources that are available locally. 

Earn Continuing Medical Education (CME) Credit

• American Heart Association (AHA): How to Collect Accurate and Complete Race/Ethnicity Data  A Step Toward Improving Health Equity
• American Medical Association (AMA): Addressing Social Determinants of Health (SDOH): Beyond the Clinic Walls  Create a plan to address SDoH in your office through the course
• AMA: Center for Health Equity Multiple HE courses to help physicians, health providers and health systems address root causes of inequities such as racism, white supremacy, and other structural determinants of health
• AMA: Howard Brown Health Multiple HE courses related to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual and allies (LGBTQIA+) community
• AMA: The Fenway Institute Multiple HE courses related to the LGBTQIA+ community

Learn More About Health Equity and SDoH

• Health Equity: Why it Matters and How to Achieve it  Health Catalyst provides articles and resources to help your organization work toward health equity.
• Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) – Unconscious Bias Resources for Health Professionals The AAMC provides resources and trainings to assist institutions with achieving organizational goals around addressing unconscious biases. 

Add ICD-10 Z Codes to Claims

• BCBSOK has compiled a list of ICD-10 Z codes for social determinants of health to better track and address the social needs of our members. We invite you to incorporate the codes on the claims you submit to BCBSOK so we may better understand the unique, social needs of BCBSOK members and help connect them with available resources.
  

Form a Plan to Address Health Equity and SDoH in Your Office

• Earn continuing medical education (CME) credit while creating a plan to address SDoH in your office through the American Medical Association (AMA) course Addressing Social Determinants of Health (SDOH): Beyond the Clinic Walls 
• The EveryONE Project focuses on providing family physicians and their practice teams with education and resources to advocate for health equity, promote workforce diversity, and foster collaboration with community organizations to advance health equity.

The above material is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for the independent medical judgment of a physician or other health care provider. Physicians and other health care providers are encouraged to use their own medical judgment based upon all available information and the condition of the patient in determining the appropriate course of treatment. References to third party sources or organizations are not a representation, warranty or endorsement of such organizations. Any questions regarding those organizations should be addressed to them directly. The fact that a service or treatment is described in this material is not a guarantee that the service or treatment is a covered benefit and members should refer to their certificate of coverage for more details, including benefits, limitations and exclusions. Regardless of benefits, the final decision about any service or treatment is between the member and their health care provider.