Insurers are increasingly incentivizing social risk factors (SRF) screening within healthcare settings; it is unknown how clinics are subsequently implementing this screening.

In 2022, a major insurance provider in Kansas City incentivized validated SRF screening with at least 4 required domains (food, housing, transportation, and social environment). We surveyed 25 integrated pediatric practices affiliated with a children’s hospital, inquiring about which screening instrument was utilized, screening administration, barriers to screening, and response to positive screens. Practices could select multiple answers per question. Simple descriptive statistics were used.

All practices completed the survey. Practices administered the survey on paper (56%), electronic (48%), verbally (12%) and via signage (4%). Screening was self-administered (40%) or administered by nurses (36%), front desk staff (16%), medical assistants (12%), or providers (4%). In response to positive screens, practices provided one or more of the following: the link to FindHelp, an electronic portal with information on community resources by need and zip-code (72%); electronic referrals to community organizations through FindHelp (72%); printed resources from FindHelp (28%); verbal information on resources (44%); premade resource sheets (20%); phone calls to community organizations (8%); referrals to resource(s) within the practice (12%); or coordinated care via a social worker/care coordinator (16%). 16 practices endorsed barriers to screening—most common was parental reluctance or embarrassment (40%).

Implementation variation exists in response to a financial incentive to adopt SRF screening, even within an integrated practice network. Further research into the efficacy of these different methods is warranted, along with interventions to mitigate any barriers.