Addressing veteran health-related social needs: how Joint Commission standards accelerated integration and expansion of tools and services in the Veterans Health Administration.
List JM, Russell LE, Hausmann LRM, et al. Addressing veteran health-related social needs: how Joint Commission standards accelerated integration and expansion of tools and services in the Veterans Health Administration. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf. 2024;50(1):34-40. doi:10.1016/j.jcjq.2023.10.002.
Unmet health-related social needs (HRSNs; e.g., housing instability, food insecurity) and healthcare disparities can place patients at increased risk for patient safety incidents and poor outcomes. This article describes how existing Veterans Health Administration (VHA) initiatives to address HRSNs and disparities are being leveraged to address new Joint Commission standards to improve health care equity.