Housing, Transportation, and Food: How ACOs Seek to Improve Population Health by Addressing Nonmedical Needs of Patients

Addressing nonmedical needs is critical to advancing population health, improving the quality of care, and lowering the costs of care. This Health Affairs article examines how ACOs are addressing the nonmedical needs of their patients, and the extent to which they are doing so. Through the use of qualitative interviews with ACO leaders and site visits, the study found that the nonmedical needs most commonly addressed by ACOs were needs related to transportation, housing, and food. As policymakers continue to provide incentives for health care organizations to meet a broader spectrum of patients’ needs, these findings offer insights into how health care organizations such as ACOs integrate themselves with nonmedical organizations.

ACO News is a feature of the Medicaid Accountable Care Organization Resource Center, an online collection of tools designed to help Medicaid agencies develop and launch accountable care organizations.