Social Determinants of health (SDOH) clinical decision support (CDS) feasibility brief

There is a growing collection of evidence that social determinants of health (SDOH) factors can significantly impact health care outcomes. Aspects of these factors (housing instability, food insecurity, etc.) are more often being found in clinical practice guideline recommendations when diagnosing and treating patients. Guidelines that include SDOH considerations present an opportunity to advance health equity and to improve health outcomes by electronically applying these guidelines into provider workflows via electronic clinical decision support (CDS). Providers can also use CDS software programs that automate clinical guidelines to help evaluate complex rules at the point of care.