The Death of Search as Healthcare's SDOH

Dude, where's my community?

With my former nonprofit CEO hat on, one of the topmost frustrations was that there were ~75K AYA diagnoses/year; percentage-wise, few, if any, found out about Stupid Cancer.

"Where is everyone else?" we decried daily.

Instead of AYA patients and their caregivers learning about us when they needed to, 99% of the time, we heard, "It would have been so great to know you were there when I needed you."

How do we eliminate "Where were you when I needed you."?

How does the nonprofit community—with its thoughtfully built, empathy-driven, community-based ecosystem of support programs, tools, and services—reach everyone in need?

Unless you're a big box marketing machine, they cannot.

And, dare I infer, those burdened by the benefit of über funding, with retained agencies of records and robust staffing, might lack the individualized hometown touches and "welcome mat feelings" that those in need often respond best to. Or perhaps not. To each their own.

Is it fair to expect nonprofits to be "enterprise-driven marketing machines?" No. Let them do what they were born to do: focus 100% of their time on mission-driven efforts.

Has anyone considered search engine results an SDOH? All this talk of access to care is marginalized if access to the right search results is a feigned pipe dream. Search engine results are bought and sold left and right. They're biased, full of dis- and misinformation, and they suck when it comes to patients needing support services.

"Where is everyone else?" we decried daily.

You know who knows where everyone else is? Insurance claims codes in the form of patient data platforms like IQVIA. This means Pharma knows where everyone else is and, presumably, has the power (and the cash) to reach every patient and tell them about nonprofit resources.

Do they? That's up for grabs. (Note to pharma marketers: Stop putting happy cancer patients in ads for cancer drugs)

Suppose the NPOs had the same capacity to use the IQVIA's of the world to reach every patient in need and lasso them into the community they never knew they needed. Search results and "spread the word" would become irrelevant.

I'm done with awareness and the "luck factor" of finding out about things you wished you knew about. It's time to ensure that all patients are guaranteed access to support they didn't know they needed, precisely when they need them.

(Also, ask me how I can help you solve for this. I kinda figured it out.)