IOM report says social, behavioral health 'vital' to care

The inclusion of social and behavioral health domains in EHRs is vital to providing crucial information to providers treating individual patients, to health systems concerned about the health of populations and to researchers involved in determining the effectiveness of treatment, according to a study from the Institute of Medicine (IOM).

The report is the first of a two-phase study conducted by a 13-member IOM committee and identifies: specific domains to be considered by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS); criteria that should be used in deciding which domains should be included; identification of core social and behavioral domains to be included in all EHRs; and any other domains that should be included for specific populations or settings defined by age, socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, disease or other characteristics.

The domains are put into the categories of socio-demographic, psychological, behavioral, individual-level social relationships and neighborhoods and communities.  

"Expansion beyond the traditional information collected in EHRs to include social and behavioral health determinants requires the identification and application of criteria for determining what domains should be included in all EHRs and for specific populations," the authors wrote. "The rapid adoption of EHRs and the exigent Meaningful Use Stage 3 criteria formulation by the ONC and CMS add urgency to this effort." 

The report is "intended to inform and aid the ONC and CMS in finalizing domains for Meaningful Use Stage 3," however, the report committee acknowledged that its second phase may come too late. "ONC and CMS will likely need to move forward with their decision-making on objectives and measures for Meaningful Use Stage 3 before release of the committee's Phase 2 report."

Read the complete report.