What You Should Know:
– Healthy Alliance IPA and Unite Us, today announced a strategic partnership to create New York’s first statewide coordinated care network for addressing social needs – one of the first networks of its kind in the country.
– This growing partnership will convene regional community leaders and thousands of local community-based organizations across the state to ensure all New Yorkers have access to a comprehensive, coordinated social care service network.
Improving Access to Services Addressing Social Determinants of Health
As part of the partnership, Healthy Alliance IPA will continue providing hands-on support to organizations across New York to encourage the adoption and successful use of Unite Us’ technology, which makes it easy to connect people in need to social services, such as healthy food, benefits counseling, housing, and workforce development. With its expertise in developing successful social determinants of health (SDoH) programs with managed care plans in the Capital Region, Healthy Alliance IPA will also leverage the technology to connect and grow existing social care networks, with the objective of contracting with New York managed care plans. In addition, Healthy Alliance IPA is committed to identifying new entry points of care and screening opportunities for SDoH with this technology, expanding the reach and awareness of these publicly available services.
This partnership aligns with recent calls-to-action at the state and federal level, including the New York State Department of Health proposal submitted to the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in August 2021, which calls for a $17 billion, five-year program designed to address health disparities and systemic health care delivery issues underscored by COVID-19. Healthy Alliance IPA was referenced in the concept paper as a successful example of an emerging Social Determinants of Health Network (SDHN), taking a holistic approach to addressing the full spectrum of a region’s social care needs.
This initiative is the next phase of a successful, multi-year partnership between Healthy Alliance IPA and Unite Us to improve health by addressing social needs. Since 2018, Healthy Alliance IPA’s network of medical, social, and behavioral health providers, Healthy Together, has leveraged Unite Us to send and receive SDoH referrals and track outcomes. Today, the growing network of over 500 organizations provides more than 1,000 programs and services to 22 counties across New York’s Capital, Central, and Northern Regions. Paired with on-the-ground referral navigation, network health, and partner performance teams, Healthy Alliance IPA and their regional counterparts ensure individuals are rapidly connected to services, community leaders are engaged, and organizations are supported throughout the process.
“Social needs have a direct and tangible impact on health. By mobilizing social care service networks across one platform, we are able to connect people to SDoH services across a broad geography, addressing the unique social needs of every New Yorker,” said Erica Coletti, CEO, Healthy Alliance IPA. “Through the great work being done across social care providers to improve the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities, we will see improved health and reduced costs for our state. We’re thrilled to expand our partnership with Unite Us. Together, we will continue to break down barriers between medical and social care providers.”
