OUR DATA
IHM data is unique because it comes from community hospitals, a population often underrepresented in clinical studies. The IHM data system incorporates the contents of the clinical information system used daily in hospitals, reaching well beyond claims data, and includes thousands of data elements per patient, such as lab results, drugs given (and when/where given), radiology reports, and electronic nursing and physician notes. IHM collects both both administrative and clinical data on thousands of patients daily from a nation-wide network of community hospitals.
The wide variety of institutions in the IHM database makes it ideal for studying the influence of institutional characteristics on practice patterns. The IHM data includes all socioeconomic groups and individuals with special health care needs, including individuals with disabilities and those who need chronic care or end-of-life health care. No priority populations are excluded.
SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH
Detailed Social Determinants of Health data is now available as part of IHM’s clinical database. The combination of IHM’s detailed clinical data with socioeconomic status data provides a more complete picture of a patient’s health, as well as the hospital’s entire catchment area. Social Determinants of Health data can be used for assessing and developing strategies to meet unique community needs, and advance health equity initiatives.
The World Health Organization defines Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) as “the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life.” While the healthcare industry focuses on treatment of injury or illness, social determinants represent the leading indicators of health that occur on a daily basis. Peer reviewed research concludes that traditional medical care accounts for just 10-20% of factors that contribute to healthy outcomes for patients. The other 80-90% result from SDOH health-related behaviors, socioeconomic and environmental factors.
Social Determinants of Health data available from IHM includes:
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