Highlights:

• As healthcare providers worked to promote overall health and wellness and to prevent unnecessary healthcare utilization, it quickly became clear that certain social factors were at play here. The social determinants of health could affect whether a patient obtained and maintained wellness, regardless of the quality of care they would receive during a clinical encounter.
• Transportation has an effect on patient wellness because it directly impacts whether or not a patient can access her healthcare. When a patient has transportation barriers, she is less likely to attend a wellness check, chronic disease management appointment, or follow-up care.
• Race has long been regarded as a key social determinant of health, with most of the literature indicating that traditionally marginalized populations are more likely to experience other social determinants of health than White patients. Black and Hispanic patients may be more likely to be low-income, for example.

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