Overview
WASHINGTON -- Accountable care organizations (ACOs) and other players in the healthcare system need to look after patients' non-medical needs if they want their health outcomes to improve, several speakers said Thursday at a briefing on the "Culture of Health" sponsored by Health Affairs.
"The culture of health is about meeting people's needs to attain health and well-being," Alan Weil, editor-in-chief of Health Affairs, explained at the start of the briefing. "And if there's one thing we heard this week [in the election], it's that there are a lot of people in the country who don't feel like their needs are currently being met to provide them with the well-being that they think is warranted given the work that they do and the efforts that they make, and pulling those things together in the context of culture is important for us as we think about health and healthcare going forward."
