RISE looks at recent headlines concerning social determinants of health (SDoH).
Uber Health announces grocery and OTC item delivery services
Uber Health, Uber’s health care arm, has introduced a new feature to its health care platform. With the expanded services, payers and providers nationwide will be able to have groceries and OTC items delivered to patients’ homes. Since 2018, the Uber Health platform has addressed gaps in care and common pain points with supplemental benefits. For years, the platform has allowed payers and providers to connect patients with services such as non-emergency medical transportation and prescription delivery. The addition of grocery and OTC item delivery, facilitated by Uber Eats, aims to further advance value-based care, enhance the patient experience, and increase member satisfaction and retention.
“Value-based care is the future of health care, but it’s complex and labor-intensive to deliver and scale. Uber Health addresses this challenge head-on,” said Caitlin Donovan, global head of Uber Health, in a statement. “Our platform streamlines coordination across multiple benefits—non-emergency medical transportation, prescription delivery, and food and over-the-counter medication delivery, empowering payers and providers to support patients beyond the four walls of a medical office. And, because our platform is built on the largest mobility network in the world, we’re uniquely capable of meeting these needs and unlocking the potential of value-based care at scale.”
With the centralized HIPAA-enabled platform’s expanded services, providers will be able to access patients’ benefit data and eligibility information from payers to they can leverage their existing benefits and connect them with services covered by their insurance.
CDC data draws more concern over mental health issues in children
Nearly 15 percent of U.S. children ages 5-17 received treatment for mental health issues in 2021, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics.
The study, which used data from the 2021 National Health Interview Survey, looked at the number of children who received any type of mental health treatment, including having taken prescription medication and/or counseling or therapy from a mental health professional, for conditions such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, and behavioral conditions.
Additional findings include:
- Children ages 12-17 were more likely to receive mental health treatment (18.9 percent) than children ages 5-11 (11.3 percent).
- Boys (9.0 percent) were more likely to have taken prescription medication for their mental health than girls (7.3 percent).
- Asian non-Hispanic children (4.4 percent) were less likely to receive mental health treatment compared to Hispanic children (10.3 percent), Black non-Hispanic children (12.5 percent), and white non-Hispanic children (18.3 percent).
- More children who lived in rural areas received treatment for mental health issues, with 14.0 percent receiving treatment in large metropolitan areas, 14.9 percent in medium or small metropolitan areas, and 19.1 percent in nonmetropolitan areas.
HHS announces $9M in funding toward substance use disorder workforce in underserved areas
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), announced this week $9 million in funding to expand mental health and substance use disorder clinicians in underserved and rural communities. The funds will be awarded to 20 grantees to train health care providers to provide services to individuals in need of mental health care or substance use services.
“At HRSA we are committed to helping people get mental health and substance use disorder services, particularly in places that have generally had limited access to behavioral health care,” said HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson, in a statement. “Today’s investments are part of HRSA’s commitment to training more providers to meet the need for mental health and substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery services.”