Establish a Public Clearinghouse for SDOH Data

Establish a Public Clearinghouse for SDOH Data

SDOH data pertinent to vulnerable communities is spread across many different platforms and lacks standardization. A number of federal, state, and private entities are collecting different types of data on SDOH already. Additionally, many companies provide data on individual SDOH factors such as walkability scores and housing prices. A clearinghouse of publicly available data collected from all of these existing sources could be leveraged to target interventions to mitigate health risks in low-income and minority communities. It would immediately make SDOH data more accessible to large numbers of people and organizations, and over time would encourage greater data sharing between states, healthcare entities, and public health agencies. A public clearinghouse for SDOH data would also help enable the other recommendations in this section.

Next Steps: Identify and convene stakeholders to develop a collaborative approach to building a public clearinghouse for SDOH data.

Impact: A public clearinghouse for SDOH data would facilitate better data sharing between states, healthcare entities, and public health agencies, making it easier to use SDOH data in the fight against COVID-19 and for other purposes, while providing opportunities for further data standardization and coordination. 

Who can take action: Healthcare institutions, private foundations, nonprofit organizations, academic organizations, HHS and other federal agencies like the AHRQ.