Artificial Intelligence and Social Determinants of Health

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Services Research
• Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare

Background:

• Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) are critical factors influencing up to 80% of modifiable health outcomes.
• Primary care settings are increasingly recognized as crucial points for addressing SDoH.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and analyze key challenges primary care providers face in screening and intervening for suboptimal SDoH.
• To explore the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in assisting with SDoH screening and intervention to reduce health disparities.

Main Methods:

• The study reviews existing literature and expert insights on SDoH screening and intervention in primary care.
• It analyzes four primary challenge areas: knowledge limitations, screening difficulties, integration of protective factors, and technical issues with AI.

Main Results:

• Key challenges include provider knowledge gaps, difficulties in effective SDoH screening, failure to incorporate protective factors, and technical hurdles when using AI tools.
• AI demonstrates potential in capturing and ameliorating SDoH deficiencies.

Conclusions:

• Addressing SDoH in primary care requires overcoming significant provider-level and systemic challenges.
• AI offers a promising avenue to enhance SDoH interventions, improve health outcomes, inform policy, and promote population health equity.