Social determinants of health – the conditions in which people live, work and age – and how they impact the quality and price of health care was the focus of a recent congressional briefing involving several health industry representatives.
The event, hosted by the Healthcare Leadership Council (HLC) and moderated by HLC President Mary Grealy included a panel of guests that included representatives from Baxter, Novo Nordisk, Change Healthcare and Maxim Healthcare Services, a HLC release said.
Karin Gillespie, a Novo Nordisk representative, spoke on the needs that diabetics have and the links that have been noticed between urban living and diabetes.
Maxim's senior medical adviser, William Queale, related how Maxim's use of community health workers can lead to decreased health costs and health issues.
Jim Dalen with Change Healthcare spoke on the Medicare-Medicaid challenges, such as the lack of options for treatment for individuals suffering from everyday challenges.
Baxter's Guillermo Amezcua noted the statistics for chronic kidney disease and spoke of the need to increase standards of care, levels of patient literacy and awareness of social factors that affect care, the release said.
