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Abstract
Social determinants of health (SDoH) are becoming more recognized for their influence on health and illness. However, SDoH information capture within the electronic health record (EHR) is still in early stages, with clinical workflows and data standards undefined. Recent studies of SDoH data quality have found variations in format, structure, and utility. This study aimed to characterize at a high level SDoH data from a small regional health system. Data was assessed relative to recognized domains for SDoH data capture, data quality attributes of completeness and plausibility, and for patterns related to organizational and clinical workflows. Data completeness was found to be low when measured at the levels of patient and encounter. However, there was clear evidence for increasing data capture over the study timeframe. Meaningful conclusions about SDoH data plausibility were not clear, though there is potential for further study in this area. Clinical guidelines for data capture and data standards are needed to ensure that SDoH data effectively support clinical care, population health, care coordination, and research.