Global social determinants of health market

The global social determinants of health (SDOH) market size is expected to reach US$ 18.06 Bn by 2030, from US$ 5.57 Bn in 2023, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.3% during the forecast period.

The social determinants of health market consists of a wide variety of products and services aimed at addressing the various non-medical factors that influence health outcomes. On one hand, there are data and analytics products that help identify at-risk populations and the social factors negatively impacting their health. By leveraging sources of social, economic, and environmental data, these products build profiles to predict health risks and needs. They give insights into how factors like income, education, employment, community support, housing conditions, and access to services influence an individual's or population's health status. However, a limitation is the sensitivity of private individual data and ensuring privacy and ethical use of sensitive information.   

Global Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Market- Regional Insights

• North America is expected to be the largest market for social determinants of health (SDOH) during the forecast period, accounting for over 35.7% of the market share in 2023. North America has dominated the global social determinants of health market for several years now. The region is home to many leading healthcare organizations and government institutions that are doing pioneering work in addressing social issues impacting public health outcomes. Several large cities in the U.S. and Canada have implemented innovative programs targeting social risk factors like housing, transportation, education, and employment. For example, Cincinnati spent over US$ 1 billion to transform its approach to deal with issues of homelessness, addiction, and mental health in a holistic manner.
• Asia Pacific is expected to be the second-largest market for social determinants of health (SDOH), accounting for over 25.2% of the market share in 2023. The Asia Pacific region has emerged as the fastest growing market for social determinants of health in recent times. Countries like China, India, Japan, and South Korea are facing new challenges of rapid urbanization, income disparity and aging populations that impact community well-being. Local governments have realized that socioeconomic factors play a large role in diseases like diabetes, respiratory illnesses, and cardiovascular conditions prevalent in Asia Pacific. This has led many provincial administrations to form multi-sectoral partnerships between Nongovernmental organization (NGOs), private hospitals, and urban planners to offer more holistic care by tackling social issues jointly with clinical management of illnesses. For instance, Singapore has reported success through public housing projects integrated with primary healthcare centers and food aid programs for low income residents. The increased focus on preventive healthcare measures determined by social circumstances rather than medical interventions alone is expected to propel further growth of this market across Asia Pacific in the foreseeable future.
• Europe is expected to be the fastest-growing market for social determinants of health (SDOH), with a share of 19% during the forecast period. The growth of the market in Europe is due to the increasing majority of European countries have well-established universal healthcare systems that provide comprehensive medical coverage to their citizens. For example, according to Eurostat, in 2019 over 75% of health expenditure across the EU was publicly funded through taxes or compulsory social health insurance.

Figure 1. Global Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Market Share (%), By Region, 2023

Analyst’s Views: The social determinants of health market is poised to grow substantially in the coming years. Key drivers of growth include increasing awareness among governments and healthcare providers about factors beyond clinical care that influence health outcomes. Addressing issues like affordable housing, transportation access, food security, and educational attainment can help improve population health and reduce healthcare costs in the long run. At the same time, lack of coordination across different sectors remains a challenge for comprehensively addressing social determinants.

North America currently dominates the social determinants of health space but growth is expected to be higher in Asia Pacific as countries seek to strengthen primary care systems and meet rising non-communicable disease burden. The voluntary sector and social enterprises are increasing  offering community-based programs targeting social needs. New players offering data and analytics capabilities are also emerging to help identify at-risk populations and optimize resource allocation.

Global Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Market- Drivers

• Digital technology adoption: Digital technology adoption is significantly fueling the growth of the social determinants of health market. With increased internet and smartphone penetration globally, people now have access to a plethora of health information online. They can search for symptoms, connect with doctors, order medicines, book online consultations, and track fitness activities through various health apps. This has boosted health awareness and made people more cognizant about factors impacting their well-being beyond hospitals and clinics. People now understand how social and economic conditions like housing, education, neighborhood environment, income levels can influence their health outcomes in both short and long term.
• Access to care disparities: Access to care disparities have significantly impacted the growth of the social determinants of health market in recent years. The continuous lack of access to basic healthcare and resources for underprivileged communities has put a spotlight on addressing the root social and environmental causes beyond direct medical services. Various socioeconomic factors like poverty, food insecurity, education, unemployment, transportation availability directly influence people's health outcomes and healthcare needs. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), almost half of the global population still lacks access to essential health services and over 100 million people get pushed into extreme poverty due to healthcare costs each year.

Global Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Market- Opportunities

• Social impact partnerships: Social impact partnerships have tremendous potential to address some of the most intractable social determinants of health issues. By bringing together public funding, private expertise, and a rigorous focus on outcomes, these partnerships allow for innovative interventions that traditional programs often cannot achieve. With health increasingly influenced by factors outside the four walls of a medical setting, such as housing, education, employment, and social support networks, impact partnerships are well-positioned to play a meaningful role in improving populations' well-being.
• In one Midwestern city, a partnership was formed between the local Department of Public Health, a hospital system, a private philanthropist, and a housing non-profit. Seeking to address chronic homelessness and its severe health impacts, they designed a program to provide permanent supportive housing units along with robust on-site medical care, job training, and case management.
• Rising healthcare expenditure: Addressing social needs as clinical prevention could unlock major opportunities in the social determinants of health market. Clinical prevention focuses on identifying and treating health issues before they worsen through screenings, counseling, vaccinations and other proactive services. By addressing underlying social risk factors, clinical prevention can become remarkably more effective at improving health outcomes.
• For instance, lack of stable housing and financial instability are among the most significant determinants of health according to the WHO. Nearly one in four American adults report unaffordability of doctor visits and medications as a key barrier to care. If clinical practices could screen for housing insecurity and refer patients to social services assistance, it could help tackle the root causes of health issues rather than just the symptoms. This kind of coordinated, wraparound approach simultaneously advances the clinical and social sides of health. It ensures individuals’ basic needs for food and shelter are met before their conditions become chronic and more costly to treat.

Global Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Market- Trends

• Addressing social needs as clinical prevention: Social risk screening is becoming an important trend in the social determinants of health market. Many public and private organizations are now recognizing that factors outside of clinical care like economic stability, education, social relationships, and neighborhood conditions play a significant role in individual and community health outcomes. As a result, there is a growing need to identify and understand people's social risks to better address their health needs.

Several healthcare providers and payers have started implementing social risk screening protocols to collect more holistic information from patients beyond just medical data. For example, health insurers like Medicaid plans in some states are now routinely screening for social risks like inadequate housing, food insecurity, transportation difficulties and inter-personal violence during enrollment or periodic re-assessment. The collected data helps them identify the most vulnerable sub-groups and direct resources like care management, community health workers, benefit navigators, etc. to those with highest social needs. It allows targeting non-medical interventions that can have meaningful impact on people's health behaviors and conditions over the long-run.

• Social need resources integration: Social need resources integration is a growing trend that is significantly impacting the social determinants of health market. The shift towards social need resources integration is reshaping business opportunities and demand within the social determinants sector. Organizations providing services must adapt to collaborate more effectively with partners from other domains. This requires investments in new IT systems, staff training, and organizational cultural change. There is also growing demand for third parties that can facilitate resource and data sharing across agency boundaries. For example, a 2021 report from the United States Department of Health and Human Services found that 59% of state and local health departments were utilizing new partner engagement platforms to connect citizens to integrated social services. This trend is likely to further increase the importance of solutions that bridge traditionally separate sectors.

Global Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Market - Restraints

• Data privacy regulations: Data privacy regulations around the world have significantly impacted the growth of the social determinants of health market in recent years. Stricter laws pertaining to collection, usage and sharing of personal data have made it quite challenging for companies operating in this domain to access and leverage valuable customer information.

Social determinants of health such as economic stability, education, social and community context, healthcare access and quality, and neighborhood and built environment play a huge role in influencing people's health outcomes and life expectancy. However, in order to gain deeper insights into these factors and their impact on individuals, organizations in this market extensively rely on accessing personal data sources such as educational qualification, income levels, living conditions, medical records and more. The implementation of stringent privacy laws like General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in the U.S. Significantly restrict how such sensitive information can be collected and used.

Counterbalance: The key market players need to reduce the labor costs in comparison to the less labor-intensive manufacturing process. Packaging should be made in environmentally friendly manner to reduce packaging costs.

• Healthcare affordability: Healthcare affordability has become one of the major restraints for the growth of Social Determinants of Health market globally. Lack of universal healthcare and rising medical costs have made it difficult for people to access basic healthcare and address their social needs. When a large section of the population struggles to pay for their medical expenses, they have very little resources left to spend on other social needs like quality housing, nutrition, education and social inclusion.

This has severely limited the spending power of the market for social services that aim to address social determinants of health. For example, in the United States, as per a report by the Commonwealth Fund in 2020, around one-fourth of the adults reported having trouble paying medical bills in the past year or being currently uninsured. The high cost of healthcare means less resources are available with individuals and communities to spend on improving housing conditions, accessing green spaces, getting nutritional food or pursuing education and skill development.

Figure 2. Global Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Market Share (%), By Type, 2023

Global Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Market- Recent Developments

Service Launch and Partnership

• In October 2020, GoHealth a health insurance company entered into a strategic partnership with Aunt Bertha a Software company to address social determinants of health (SDOH). SDOH are social and environmental factors that can prevent members from living full, healthy lives. This partnership meets the holistic needs of its members, especially the dual eligible population who qualify for Medicare and Medicaid, by connecting them with food pantries and other local organizations.
• In March 2020, Humana a health insurance company launched a value-based care payment initiative designed to support clinicians in addressing non-medical health risk factors affecting Humana members. The Social Determinants of Health Value-Based Program aims to improve health outcomes by encouraging a more holistic approach to patient care that goes beyond traditional clinical treatment.

Increasing Funding

• On August 1, 2023, UnitedHealthcare a healthcare company grant US$ 11.1 million funding which falls under UnitedHealthcare’s Empowering Health program, aims to help improve the healthcare options of individuals living in underserved communities by addressing the social determinants of health
• On March 15, 2023, Bristol Myers Squibb a pharmaceutical company granted US$ 10 million funding in 2023 to 17 U.S. organizations focused on addressing social determinants of health. This funding used by organizations focused on addressing social determinants of health including healthcare access and literacy to help close gaps and increase access to healthcare.
• In June 2022, Socially Determined a healthcare company closed US$ 26 Million Series B Financing to Set the Standard for propelling successful health equity and SDOH Initiatives. The investment was led by Questa Capital a investment firm with participation from existing investors, LRVHealth, OSF Healthcare, Ziegler Link-Age Funds, and HealthWorx

Top Companies in the Global Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Market

• Healthify, Innovaccer Inc.
• Interpreta, Lightbeam
• Lumeris
• Medecision
• NowPow
• Optum
• Orion Health
• Signify Health
• Arcadia Group
• Cancer IQ
• Cerner Corporation
• Enli Health Intelligence
• Geneia LLC
• Health Catalyst
• HealthEC, LLC

Definition: The social determinants of health market consists of a wide variety of products and services aimed at addressing the various non-medical factors that influence health outcomes. On one hand, there are data and analytics products that help identify at-risk populations and the social factors negatively impacting their health. By leveraging sources of social, economic and environmental data, these products build profiles to predict health risks and needs. They give insights into how factors like income, education, employment, community support, housing conditions, and access to services influence an individual's or population's health status. However, a limitation is the sensitivity of private individual data and ensuring privacy and ethical use of sensitive information.

Global Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Market- Segmentation

• By Type
• • Economic Stability
  • Food Insecurity
  • Social Context
  • Environment
  • Education
  • Healthcare Systems
• By Application
• • Authentication
  • Authorization
  • Person-matching
  • Consent management
  • Privacy
• By End User
• • Payers
  • Providers
• By Region
• • North America
  • Europe
  • Asia Pacific
  • Latin America
  • Middle East
  • Africa