Whole Health Index Methodology

About 20% of health outcomes and associated costs are tied to physical health needs, such as treating high blood pressure in a clinic. The other 80% are largely driven by unmet health-related social needs, such as lack of nutritious food, stable housing, social support, or means to access care. Since there has been no standard for measuring these factors, they have been largely overlooked until now. The WHI shows where solutions can be most effective and supports efforts to improve health outcomes and advance health equity.

An independent third-party research and data analytics consultancy firm reviewed and confirmed the WHI is valid and reliable according to industry standards. Findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine’s Catalyst. The validation of WHI found that high WHI numbers signaled longer life expectancy and more self-reported healthy days. Lower WHI was correlated with heightened mental and physical distress.

WHI information can be used to develop more personalized and equitable programs, observe macro health changes, and more. Detailed, more granular data is only accessible to outside entities that are Elevance Health customers. In the spirit of improving health for all, county-level index assessments are currently available for two states, Virginia and Missouri, with additional states to come. We hope community-based organizations, policymakers, urban planners, and other change-makers use the WHI to benefit the overall health of their communities.

By monitoring the members in our affiliated health plans over time, we can better identify what's working, what’s not, and more quickly and accurately offer ways to support them more holistically in the short and long term. The WHI also helps us see which physical, behavioral, and social factors are affecting health in communities across the country. Over time, this knowledge can help close care gaps, reduce disparities, and improve health outcomes for our members and their communities.

Elevance Health DOES NOT use the WHI to determine heath plan eligibility, approve/deny claims, or influence any component of health plan designs, including pricing. In using this data, Elevance Health complies with all state and federal laws regarding privacy and non-discrimination practices.

Yes. No personally identifiable information (PII) or HIPAA-protected information is used in the WHI. Elevance Health uses industry-leading best practices to store and protect all data. The interactive maps on this website do not display member data at the individual level. We do not share or sell any data externally.

These maps were created using data from a subset of employer-sponsored health plan membership in 2022. The clinical data comes directly from claims we processed that same year, such as healthcare services used, as well as acute and chronic disease diagnoses. The WHI includes members who live in states not served by Elevance Health-affiliated plans but have coverage through employers based in covered states.

The social data comes from social need diagnosis codes, member self-assessments, and publicly available census data on critical social needs (financial strain, healthcare affordability, access to transportation, food insecurity, housing insecurity).

We used the best available data, and for some members that means both the public data and individual assessment data is available. For other members, only one or the other is available. Our methodology accounts for these types of differences so that the WHI is still proven as valid and reliable.

The WHI methodology shows that a higher number generally means better health. The WHI is a reliable, validated tool for measuring overall health. The dashboard includes only aggregate data; it does not display information about individual people. The WHI assessment looks at physical, behavioral, and social factors affecting health and creates a factual, objective, numerical calculation for each person. 

“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, mental health conditions, 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.