Part 1 – The Physicians Foundation has launched a multi-year effort to research and help doctors assist patients with social drivers of health. Those are at least five factors – food security, housing stability, transportation access, utilities access, and interpersonal safety – that affect patient health outside the physicians’ office.

In August this year, The Physicians Foundation announced a call for medical associations to apply for grants to develop capacity, resources and data to support doctors’ understanding and integrate best practices into patient care. Grants up to $150,000 will support medical associations over two years.

More broadly, Physicians Foundation President Gary Price, MD, MBA, and Research Fellow Deborah Rose, MD, this year discussed the research needed to measure SDOH and the roles of specialist and primary care physicians.

Part 1 of this video series features Price and Rose discussing that research and the roles of primary care and specialist physicians in addressing SDOH.