Physician Documentation of Social Determinants of Health: Results from Two National Surveys

In 2022, most physicians documented SDOH data in their EHR, yet fewer used structured methods, limiting data exchange opportunities to address patients' social needs. Under half of physicians considered access to external SDOH data to be "very" important, suggesting greater reliance on data collected internally and missed opportunities to identify patients who need support. Variation in perceived importance of SDOH data access and SDOH documentation by physician characteristics indicate opportunities to support adoption of structured documentation tools facilitating SDOH data capture and exchange to improve patient-centered care.