BY KATHLEEN A. CULHANE-PERA, MD, MA, AND CHRIS SINGER, MAN, RN, CPHQ: Our work in health care is only part of what contributes to overall health. Social Determinants of Health (SDoH)—people’s education, employment, finances, legal status, literacy skills, English fluency, transportation, housing, and, most importantly, their neighborhood—can be just as important. SDoH factors contribute to health disparities in Minnesota; our communities with high SDoH burdens experience higher rates of disease and disabilities.

BY CLAIRE S. NEELY, MD, FAAP; AND SARAH HORST, MA: “People are entitled to joy in work.”—W. Edwards Deming In health care, where change management is often viewed with dread rather than enthusiasm, this might seem like a surprising way to begin. Change management is most often defined as the process, tools, and techniques required to achieve a certain business outcome. This includes supporting people to make changes.

BY DAVID R. BROWN, MD, FACE; JOEY WILSON, MS; CHARLIE HU, MSC; AND DOUGLAS CORLEY, BSC: Digital finance is a rapidly evolving, disruptive technology incorporating elements effective for large-scale transactions in a globally integrated economy. The health care arena is particularly conducive to the concepts of “cryptocurrencies” such as bitcoin and the underlying technology of blockchain as an economic, integrative, and data management technology.

BY PAM BECKERING, MS, LPCC: I met “Donna” several years ago when I was practicing as a therapist. She was coming to see me because she was struggling with life and was getting tired of being unable to live a quality lifestyle. Talking with her, I found out that Donna was married, was not able to work due to some chronic health issues, had a bout with cancer, and was not able to function in her daily living activities.

BY DAVE RACER, MLITT, AND GREG DATTILO, CEBS: On April 28, “…the Washington State legislature passed a bill to create standardized [public] health plans…The hallmark of these new plans, and the foundation of their claim to the title ‘public,’ is they are required to cap provider reimbursements at Medicare-based levels [emphasis added] (Health Affairs, May 1, 2019).”