New AHA tool guides teams to screen patients for social needs

Before addressing patients' social needs, clinicians need to fully understand what the people they care for are experiencing. The American Hospital Association (AHA) has developed a new toolkit to assist in this process. The toolkit includes strategic considerations for implementing a screening program, tips for tailoring screenings to hospitals' unique communities, case examples and a list of national organizations that can help connect patients with local resources. The toolkit was produced as part of “The Value Initiative,” which helps hospitals and health systems address affordability and bring value to their communities. An associated podcast includes highlights from a panel discussion at the Association for Community Health Improvement National Conference about how hospitals drive value by screening for social needs.