*Updated in 2025 Public health is trapped in an inverse relationship. It supports many needs with few resources. The Commonwealth Fund's report,  U.S. Health Care from a Global Perspective, 2022: Accelerating Spending, Worsening Outcomes , found that the U.S. spends twice as much on healthcare than the average, high-income country. In particular, we spend more on healthcare treatment and less on prevention, a primary focus of public health.  In CNN's response to The Commonwealth Fund's 2022 report , Jacqueline Howard interviewed Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, who stated, “[W]e don’t do as much primary care prevention as the other nations, and we still have a public health system, which is fractured . . . [We also] under-invest compared to other industrialized nations in societal things. They spend their money on providing upfront support for their citizens. We spend our money on sick care.” If you work in a he...

As the healthcare field further recognizes the critical role that socioeconomic factors play in patients' well-being, it’s important that providers and healthcare institutions adopt a holistic approach that addresses SDOH.   DataGen’s Mandi Diamond, senior practice transformation advisor, breaks down the key reasons for understanding and measuring SDOH and provides additional healthcare delivery insights. Read on for expert medical practice consulting advice.   Understanding social determinants of health   In recent years, healthcare practices have been held accountable for collecting SDOH data. This metric includes race, ethnicity, language, socioeconomic barriers and even personal circumstances, like family structure and sexual orientation/gender identity.  The more practices expand their data collection efforts, the easier it is to understand patients' backgrounds. This allows practices, specialists and community resources to build stronger, more tr...

Not owning a vehicle in New York City has negligible impact on a person’s health. Not owning one in a rural area — or even a booming metropolis like Nashville that lacks a diversified public transportation system — can be life-threatening. This tale of two cities suggests that transportation, perhaps more than any other social determinant of health, illustrates the link between ZIP code, disparities and health outcomes. The importance of transportation Missing medical appointments due to lack of transportation is a stark example of how SDOH can directly impact health outcomes. The ability to get where and when you need to is also connected to other social determinants of health domains such as finance, food and housing. However, one study found that transportation is found in fewer SDOH assessment tools (66%) than any other metric besides social and community context (61%) and physical activity (33%). Addressing transportation inequality begins with knowing how it impacts populations ...