Pennsylvania HIEs, Health IT Vendor Partner on SDOH Referral Tool

Pennsylvania's Department of Human Services has awarded the members of Pennsylvania's Consortium of Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) and health IT vendor findhelp a contract to build a social determinants of health (SDOH) referral tool.  

Built on the Findhelp closed-loop referral platform and network, the PA Navigate tool is set to connect individuals across the state with community services to help meet basic needs such as food, shelter, and transportation.

Social service agencies, local nonprofits, community-based organizations, county and state agencies, and healthcare providers will also be able to connect individuals with services and track referral outcomes using the tool.

An additional benefit of the tool will be its ability to allow healthcare providers to see a complete view of an individual's social care history and current status while ensuring health data privacy.

Findhelp will work with the four HIE Consortium members (Central PA Connect, Clinical Connect HIE, HealthShare Exchange, and Keystone Health Information Exchange / KeyHIE) to build and support the PA Navigate system.

"We selected findhelp as our technology partner for PA Navigate because they have the best integration capabilities in this space and are the technology that many healthcare organizations in our state have chosen to work with," Bill Marella, vice president of value-based care and data analytics of HealthShare Exchange, said in a press release.

Over the past five years, upwards of 750,000 Pennsylvanians have leveraged findhelp to connect with social care services. Clients include Penn Medicine, Geisinger, Lehigh Valley Health Network, AmeriHealth Caritas, PA Health and Wellness, and Highmark Health.

"We have built a strong relationship of trust with Pennsylvanians and are excited to work with our new partners to help more residents in need," said findhelp Founder and CEO Erine Gray. "Every member of the Consortium cares deeply about the people of the Commonwealth."