SDOH Clinical Care
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SDOH Clinical Care, published by HL7 International / Patient Care. This guide is not an authorized publication; it is the continuous build for version 3.0.0 built by the FHIR (HL7® FHIR® Standard) CI Build. This version is based on the current content of https://github.com/HL7/fhir-sdoh-clinicalcare/ and changes regularly. See the Directory of published versions

Glossary

Page standards status: Informative

Term Definition References
Accountable community for health A multisector, community-based partnership that brings together health care, public health, social services, other local partners, and residents to address the unmet health and social needs of the individuals and communities they serve Adapted from: California Accountable Communities for Health Initiative. (n.d.). The fundamentals. https://www.cachi.org/fundamentals
Business associate A person or entity that performs certain functions or activities that involve the use or disclosure of protected health information on behalf of, or provides services to, a covered entity. A member of the covered entity's workforce is not a business associate. Adapted from: Landauer, R., & Downer, S. (2022, January). HIPAA issue brief 4 of 5: Business associate arrangements. Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation of Harvard Law School; GusNIP NTAE Center, Nutrition Incentive Hub. https://chlpi.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/hipaa-brief-4.pdf

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights. (2019, May 24). Business associates. https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/privacy/guidance/business-associates/index.html
Capacity A social service organization's (e.g., a CBO's) ability to accept and serve a new individual for a social care service it offers. In this guide, capacity is a point-in-time judgment of whether the social service organization can take on a new referral for that service. It is an assessment of general operational bandwidth, separate from whether an individual ultimately meets specific eligibility criteria or has complex needs that require a more detailed intake review.  
Capacity status A standardized, coded indicator reflecting whether a social service organization (e.g., a CBO) currently has the operational bandwidth to receive and review new referrals for a specific service. A status of "has capacity" signals to referring sources that the program is open to new requests, but does not guarantee individual eligibility, a perfect match for complex needs, or immediate enrollment. See the SDOHCC Capacity Status value set for the allowed states.  
Care coordinator One who organizes an individual's care across multiple providers. Adapted from: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2024, November). Care coordination. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.ahrq.gov/ncepcr/care/coordination.html
Closed system A system in which the referral source, intermediary, and referral target all use the same system or platform. In this environment, capacity status, if shared, is known without the need for a standards-based exchange. Closed systems are out of scope for this guide.  
Community-based organization (CBO) A public or private nonprofit organization that is representative of a community or a significant segment of a community and works to meet community needs. Ideally, Community-Based Organizations are driven by community residents in all aspects, aligned with the principles of the National Community-Based Organization Network. National Community-Based Organization Network. (2004). What is a CBO? University of Michigan School of Public Health. https://sph.umich.edu/ncbon/about/whatis.html

National Institutes of Health. (n.d.). Community-based organization (CBO). HIV.gov Clinical Info Glossary. https://clinicalinfo.hiv.gov/en/glossary/community-based-organization-cbo
Comprehensive assessment A robust assessment of social, physical, emotional, and ecosystem context to identify risks, needs, strengths, and supports toward the aim of establishing priorities and goals. Gravity Project, & Civitas Networks for Health. (2024). Social care co-design: Final report. Civitas Networks for Health. https://www.civitasforhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/FINAL-Co-Design-Report-Gravity-Project-and-Civitas-Networks-for-Health.pdf

Agency for Clinical Innovation. (n.d.). Comprehensive assessment. Palliative Care Blueprint, NSW Government. https://aci.health.nsw.gov.au/palliative-care/guideline/comprehensive-assessment

National Association of Social Workers. (2016). NASW standards for social work practice in health care settings. https://www.socialworkers.org/Practice/NASW-Practice-Standards-Guidelines/NASW-Standards-for-Social-Work-Practice-in-Health-Care-Settings
Coordination platform (CP) (aka community resource referral platform) A technology platform that enables health care organizations to identify, search, and electronically refer patients to community-based social service organizations in order to address unmet social needs. Some community resource referral platforms also enable self-referral. Adapted from: Cartier, Y., Fichtenberg, C., & Gottlieb, L. (2019, April 16). Community resource referral platforms: A guide for health care organizations. Social Interventions Research & Evaluation Network (SIREN), University of California, San Francisco. https://sirenetwork.ucsf.edu/sites/default/files/wysiwyg/Community-Resource-Referral-Platforms-Guide.pdf
Covered entity Health plans, health care clearinghouses, and health care providers who electronically transmit any health information in connection with transactions for which HHS has adopted standards. Adapted from: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights. (2024, August 21). Covered entities and business associates. https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/covered-entities/index.html
Direct referral A referral between a referral source (e.g., health care provider) and a referral target (e.g., a social service organization such as a CBO) where both entities have FHIR server APIs and an intermediary using a coordination platform (CP) is not involved in the referral.  
Electronic health record system A set of technical components — including rules and procedures, processing and storage devices, and communication and support facilities — whose core function is to capture, store, retrieve, display, and exchange health-related information across authorized users, settings, and systems. Adapted from: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. (2026, May 7). Base electronic health record (EHR) definition. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. https://healthit.gov/certification-health-it/certification-criteria/base-electronic-health-record-definition/

Institute of Medicine. (1997). The computer-based patient record: An essential technology for health care (Rev. ed.). National Academies Press. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK233055/

Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society. (n.d.). Electronic health records. https://www.himss.org/library/ehr

U.S. Code, 42 U.S.C. § 17921(5). https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/17921#5

International Organization for Standardization. (2011). Health informatics — Requirements for an electronic health record architecture (ISO 18308:2011). https://www.iso.org/standard/52823.html
Health care organization An organization that provides health care services to individuals, including hospitals, nursing care facilities, home health agencies, and clinics. Health care organizations can be organized as governmental, not-for-profit, or commercial entities. If the health care entity is financially accountable to a primary government, it could be classified as a component unit of the government. Becker. (n.d.). Health care organizations definition. https://www.becker.com/accounting-terms/health-care-organizations
Hybrid system A system in which some trading partners use the same system, while others use different systems. An agreed-upon exchange method (e.g., FHIR) is still necessary to communicate capacity status across the disparate system boundaries. Hybrid systems are in scope.  
Indirect referral A referral between a referral source (e.g., health care provider) and a referral target (e.g., a social service organization such as a CBO) that involves an intermediary using a coordination platform (CP) and all entities have FHIR server APIs.  
Intermediary An organizational actor that sits between a referral source and a referral target to facilitate and coordinate the referral (for example, a community care hub). It typically operates a coordination platform (CP) — the system actor that relays data between the source's and target's system actors — though some intermediaries instead coordinate referrals manually (e.g., by email or spreadsheet) rather than through a CP.  
Open system A system in which the referral source, intermediary, and referral target each use disparate systems that cannot natively interoperate. To share information like capacity status, an agreed-upon exchange method (e.g., FHIR) is required. Open systems are in scope for this guide.  
Patient A consumer, or client, who is the subject of care, including assessment, goal identification, referrals, and service provision. Use of the term in this IG does not necessarily imply a clinical context.  
Protective factors Characteristics or strengths of individuals, families, communities or societies that act to mitigate risks and promote positive well-being and healthy development Center for the Study of Social Policy. (2025). About Strengthening Families™ and the Protective Factors Framework. https://cssp.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/About-Strengthening-Families.pdf
Provider A person such as a licensed provider or qualified professional who interacts with the patient to assess social risks, set goals, and determine/recommend referrals.  
Public health organization An organization that works to create the conditions in which people can live healthy lives, including activities to prevent disease and injury and promote health for the population at large. They include governmental public health agencies working at local, state, and federal levels, as well as nongovernmental organizations that contribute to the performance of core public health functions. A defining feature of public health systems is their focus on actions designed to protect and improve health at a population level rather than purely at an individual level through the delivery of personal health services. Adapted from: Systems for Action. (2025, May 7). Frequently asked questions. https://systemsforaction.org/frequently-asked-questions
Referral source An organizational actor that initiates a referral to address an individual's social risk or protective factor (for example, a health care provider; or, in self-referral, the organization operating the community resource referral platform the individual uses to refer themselves). It operates the system actor that sends the referral and receives its status and results back.  
Referral target An organizational actor that receives a referral requesting a service or assessment (for example, a social service organization such as a CBO). It operates the system actor that receives the referral and returns its status and results.  
SDOH domain A high-level classification under which the value sets for specific social risks and protective factors are categorized, including but not limited to standardized assessment instruments, diagnoses, goals, and interventions. Examples include food insecurity, protective factors, and community access to green space.  
Social care network (SCN) An outgrowth of the accountable health communities model, social care networks are coalitions of social service, public health, and health care providers and other organizations that are connected through standards-supported data exchange to enable sustainable partnerships and efficient, measurable outcomes related to SDOH. Adapted from: Galper, K., Miguel, C., LeJeune, K., Rung, J. M., Eddy, B., Kale, A., Schano, M., & Brignone, E. (2026). Design and early evaluation of a social care network's impact on health care costs. Health Affairs Scholar, 4(3), qxag051. https://doi.org/10.1093/haschl/qxag051
Social care program A structured series of actions and strategies designed to address fundamental human needs and improve the well-being of individuals, families, and/or communities. Note: the term and definition for this concept are under evaluation and may change in future versions to align with concepts elsewhere in the IG U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (n.d.). Social services. https://www.hhs.gov/programs/social-services/index.html

Systems for Action. (2025, May 7). Frequently asked questions. https://systemsforaction.org/frequently-asked-questions

Systems for Action. (n.d.). What organizations and activities are considered to be part of social service systems? https://systemsforaction.org/faq/what-organizations-and-activities-are-considered-be-part-social-service-systems
Social determinants of health (SDOH) The conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age, and people's access to power, money and resources (Equivalent to social drivers of health) World Health Organization. (n.d.). Social determinants of health. https://www.who.int/health-topics/social-determinants-of-health#tab=tab_1

World Health Organization. (2010). A conceptual framework for action on the social determinants of health. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241500852
Social need Patient-prioritized social risks Adapted from: Alderwick, H., & Gottlieb, L. M. (2019). Meanings and misunderstandings: A social determinants of health lexicon for health care systems. The Milbank Quarterly, 97(2), 407–419. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0009.12390
Social risk Adverse social conditions associated with poor health. (Equivalent to health-related social needs, or HRSN) Adapted from: Alderwick, H., & Gottlieb, L. M. (2019). Meanings and misunderstandings: A social determinants of health lexicon for health care systems. The Milbank Quarterly, 97(2), 407–419. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0009.12390
Social service organization An organization within the social service sector that works to address fundamental human needs in the community and promote social well-being through provision of services. Social service organizations include both regulatory-administered and governed organizations and community-governed organizations. Adapted from: Arons, A., Alban-Acuna, P., Simon, M., Whaley, J., Fossier, N., Simon, A., Rastogi, R., & Fichtenberg, C. (2025). Social service organizations report improvements in social services–health care integration in survey during California's Medicaid initiative ("CalAIM"). BMC Public Health, 25(1), 2234. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-23419-3

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (n.d.). Social services. https://www.hhs.gov/programs/social-services/index.html

Systems for Action. (n.d.). What organizations and activities are considered to be part of social service systems? https://systemsforaction.org/faq/what-organizations-and-activities-are-considered-be-part-social-service-systems

Phillipse, R. J., Gadel, F., Millisor, J., & McClellan, J. (2026). The use of formal partnership agreements to align service delivery across health and social service systems. Human Service Organizations: Management, Leadership & Governance. https://doi.org/10.1080/23303131.2026.2619153

European Social Network. (n.d.). What are the types of social services? https://www.esn-eu.org/about/what-are-types-social-services
Standardized assessment instrument An evaluation or measurement instrument, often in a scale or questionnaire form, that is valid and reliable, and replicable without changes or adaptations in its structure and content. Rodríguez-Violante, M., Hernández-Medrano, A. J., & Cervantes-Arriaga, A. (2024). The importance of standardized assessment. Movement Disorders Clinical Practice, 11(Suppl. 3), S15–S20. https://doi.org/10.1002/mdc3.14085