Social Drivers of Health Success Stories in Dermatology | AAD 2025

There is growing evidence that social drivers of health can impact health outcomes in dermatology patients, according to a session at the 2025 American Academy of Dermatology Meeting, held in Orlando. Drivers include a patient’s economic stability, education and healthcare access.

Rebecca Vasquez, M.D., FAAD, said that while there is not yet enough data to support success stories, she has seen firsthand the ways addressing social drivers of health has impacted her patients.

“I think that these things take time, and learning how to gather meaningful data that these sort of programs are making tangible differences,” Vasquez said in an interview conducted at the meeting. “I can tell you, anecdotally, when I'm able to provide a patient who has no insurance with dermatologic care, and I see people come in for skin cancer, and we're able to provide affordable treatment for that, those are tangible differences.”

Vasquez is speaking at four AAD 2025 sessions this year. Her first session was yesterday afternoon and was called Bridging the Gap: Addressing Social Determinants of Health to Decrease Health Disparities in Dermatology.