Clinician Champions’ Influence on Social Needs Screening Volumes in Pediatric Practices

Abstract

Health systems face barriers implementing routine screening for social needs. We assessed the impact of “clinician champions” on social needs screening. Screening data were assessed at 11 pediatric primary care practices in Bronx, NY, between April 2018 and August 2021. Three intervention practices had clinician champions; 8 control practices did not. The Wald chi-square tests and Poisson regressions evaluated the relationship between screening and introduction of clinician champions. The introduction of a clinician champion was a significant predictor of screening (P < .001). Within a practice, screening after the introduction of a clinician champion was higher than before the introduction (P < .001). The rate of screening for practices with a clinician champion was 2.8 times higher per month than for practices without a clinician champion. Furthermore, practices with clinician champions had higher rates of screening during the pandemic. In summary, the presence of clinician champions increased social needs screening rates in pediatric primary care practices.