WHI Impact Spotlight: Georgia

This 2023 county snapshot map of Georgia members in a subset of our commercial health plan membership shows how physical, behavioral, and social factors affect the overall health of the people we serve.

Average County Whole Health Index

Hover over or click a specific county on the map to display WHI information about that county. Higher numbers indicate better health.

The pop-up for each county shows the average WHI. Two counties can have a similar average WHI, but their physical (PD) and social (SD) drivers may be different, so these numbers are also included to give a better understanding of what is affecting health in that county. A lower physical driver assessment may indicate that more people in that county have illnesses or lack access to quality healthcare, while a lower social driver assessment may indicate more significant health-related social needs (whether for individuals or their community) such as greater transportation challenges.

For example, counties that are experiencing an increase in substance use disorders within their population may show a lower physical driver assessment even if their overall WHI is in the average range. Rural counties may show a lower social driver assessment due to transportation barriers or lack of access to nutritious food.

For privacy purposes, any areas or filters containing fewer than 30 members are not displayed and shown in white.

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Healthier employees create a more productive and efficient workforce that leads to healthier companies and more vibrant communities. Building a strategy to improve health outcomes for our members supports our goal to address whole health. We must bridge the health-related social needs gaps of food insecurity, lack of transportation, and limited healthcare access by connecting our members to community resources and education to more fully support their health.”

Robert Bunch

President, Elevance Health-affiliated plan in Georgia

A Closer Look at Georgia

The WHI measures the overall health of a state’s residents. It can numerically validate information that may be only anecdotally known about social drivers of health, and as a result, identify actions that may be taken to improve health. For example*:

In Greater Atlanta, higher WHI values indicate overall well-being across the city’s urban and suburban areas. Among the five core counties of the Atlanta Metropolitan Area, the average WHI was 56, PD was 52, and SD was 59.
WHI is not quite as high in Fulton and DeKalb counties (WHI 54, PD 52, SD 56), which contain the city of Atlanta.
WHI values in Southwest Georgia (WHI 41, PD 50, SD 32) and cities like Augusta (WHI 41, PD 51, SD 32) show an opportunity to address health-related social needs.

Georgia’s WHI reveals every community experiences challenges to health, whether they are physical, behavioral, or social, and the WHI can help identify the ideal opportunities to address them.

Elevance Health-affiliated plans can also use the WHI at a more granular level to improve member health outcomes in Georgia. Leaning on established partnerships with our network of community-based organizations, we can support our members’ health more holistically.

*“PD” stands for physical drivers of health, and it encompasses the factors that typically go into measuring health, such as presence of illness, whether a person has access to and uses the healthcare system, care for chronic illnesses, and whether a person gets regularly tested for illnesses. The “SD” stands for the social drivers of health that have traditionally been left out of health measurement or given less importance, such as where someone lives, their employment situation, the ability to get nutritious food, and whether they have transportation. These factors make up the Whole Health Index and work together to gauge overall health.

WHI In Action: Community Partnerships

With the WHI helping to guide our understanding about what is most needed in a community, Elevance Health-affiliated plans continue to listen to and partner with local organizations to better meet those needs. The following are examples of how Elevance Health has helped communities address health-related social needs in Georgia.

Incorporating Food to Help Treat Chronic Disease

Augusta Locally Grown provides nutritious foods for people living with chronic diet-related diseases and food insecurity. Using biometric data from its partner Harrisburg Family Health Clinic, Augusta Locally Grown creates custom produce prescriptions and dietitian-led classes. The program spans 30 weeks and creates a sense of ownership and community while increasing social support for participants. In 2024, 75 participants signed up for the program, which also has an active waiting list.

Encouraging Early Prenatal Care

In partnership with the Cobb Health Futures Foundation, Inc., the Babies Born Healthy (BBH) initiative assists people who are uninsured and not eligible for Medicaid with prenatal care early and throughout their pregnancies. BBH provides care via local obstetricians and encourages expectant parents to seek care early. This early prenatal care makes it possible to diagnose and treat chronic conditions, which can lead to healthier, full-term births. In the first two years of this effort, more than 2,200 women were assessed for BBH services. Of 167 babies delivered, 136 (81%) were delivered full-term, surpassing the goal of 70%.

How the WHI is Calculated

The WHI includes not only members who live in the displayed state and receive health benefits coverage from an Elevance Health-affiliated health plan, but also members who live in the displayed state and who receive health benefits coverage through employers headquartered in other states in which Elevance Health-affiliated health plans are offered.

Learn more about WHI Methodology