Individual Social Risk Screening Provides Better Assessment of Outpatient Healthcare Needs

Another JAMA Network Open study published earlier this month determined that individual social risk screenings are more accurate in assessing and adequately determining patients’ needs for outpatient services compared to the traditional local community level screenings that rely upon the federal Neighborhood Deprivation Index (NDI). Individual self-reported social risk screening requires patients to indicate their specific social needs, such as financial assistance, food, housing, or transportation. Although these individualized screenings may be more productive, they are nonetheless hampered by dependency upon a greater concentration of resources, as well as patients’ reluctance to participate due to the perceived stigma, among other challenges.