“More Than Just Giving Them a Piece of Paper”: Interviews with Primary Care on Social Needs Referrals to Community-Based Organizations

This publication characterizes referrals to community-based organizations by primary care practices, which are increasingly being used by healthcare organizations to invest in social care.

Interviewed healthcare administrators reported that social needs referrals were an essential element in their social care activities. Administrators described the ideal referral programs as placing limited burden on care teams, providing patients with customized referrals, and facilitating closed-loop referrals.

The researchers identified three key challenges organizations experience when trying to implement the ideal referrals program:

• (1) developing and maintaining resources lists;
• (2) aligning referrals with patient needs; and
• (3) measuring the efficacy of referrals.