No bad door: how policy, technology and partnerships can feed a connected social security net

The concept is so simple and practical: whatever an individual enters the health system or social care – through the emergency service (ED), the primary care office or a community pantry – he should be able to easily access all the resources he needs to live his healthiest life.

This “no bad door” approach is considering an integrated system of providers, resources and workflows that make quickly and effective for any front -line supplier to connect individuals to the services they need. Whether it is medical care for chronic disease, access to food assistance or housing or behavioral health services, effective connections are only a few clicks.

However, the current process is much more complicated and disjointed.

The pantry has no way of connecting customers to health services, although they are aware of their health problems. An emergency nurse can know the community organizations (CBO) who provide meals or medically tailor-made grocery products, but what happens if this nurse is not in quarter when the patient between? The primary care provider (PCP) could discover that the patient cannot afford medication or does not have transport to obtain appointments but is helpless to help him remedy it.

While health leaders and political decision -makers are increasingly recognizing that medical intervention cannot resolve the health crisis in our country, the integration of social care in the provision of health care is essential. The challenge lies in the connection of disparate systems to eliminate silos and operate social care on a large scale.

Thanks to the convergence of proactive policy, advanced technology and public-private strategic partnerships, we can achieve this vision “no bad door” and offer a rationalized and more efficient, economical and efficient rationalized social security net. Here’s how.

Political continuity despite political change

Although each new political administration can use a different language to articulate its priorities, the fundamental intention of treating holistic health remains the same. For Biden administration, this meant focusing on health equity for poorly served populations, while Trump’s team focuses on broader initiatives for all poorly served and vulnerable people, regardless of race, ethnicity or other demographic factors.

This recognition in all the political perspectives that everyone deserves access to care is crucial. Whatever the approach, the reality is that more than 100 million Americans – 1 in 3, including half of all American children – rely on social security nets and meet these needs cause costs for taxpayers, health care providers, hospitals and health plans. The provision of these services effectively, effectively and in the most worthy way is everyone’s top priority.

To achieve this, requires continuity in the main political areas:

• Chronic prevention and management of diseases through holistic interventions that meet medical, mental / emotional and social needs. Diabetes, for example, is not only a medical condition – there are emotional, lifestyle and social aspects that cannot be overlooked.
• “Food as medicine” programs that give access to nutritional education and healthy foods in all socioeconomic and geography sector. To say to someone what he should eat is not useful if he cannot access it, because they are one of the 47 million Americans living in food registration households.
• Nationally implementation of policies that reimburse CBOs to provide essential health related services. Since CBOs operate on thin margins of razors, reimbursement creates sustainable funding to support their vital work which has a direct impact on health results.
• The integration of social needs screening, reference and monitoring with patients with complex conditions through the health care ecosystem, including quality measures and reimbursement models, so that providers and care teams can connect people to services as part of their care and be paid to do so.

Technology that allows transparent connection

In practice, the only way to achieve “no bad door” is to ensure that everyone in the ecosystem has universal access to a door in the same network.

This includes suppliers and CBOs – those on the front line providing services – but also health plans and health information organizations to facilitate data sharing, integration and eligibility screening; Provide data from data -oriented services; and ensure HIPAA compliance.

But the solution does not reside in the replacement of systems but in the creation of transparent integrations with existing integrations which allow suppliers to operate in their familiar workflows – their electronic health file (DSE), for example – rather than switch between separate portals.

With closed loop reference systems, health plan data and real -time access to community resources information is integrated into the care management process, so that suppliers can automatically check for patient eligibility and match the resources.

For example, after checking the coverage and entered patient screening data into the DSE, an emergency supplier could receive an alert according to which the patient is eligible for food assistance or transport vouchers. The care team could then directly refer the patient to these services in a few clicks.

It is an incredibly effective and logical model that has the potential to transform the way care is managed, delivered and measured.

Innovative partnerships that fuel collaboration

Gathering all the required entities is essential to make the full potential of “no bad door”. Although these partnerships can be directed by health systems and health plans, some of the most effective occur at the state level where people can find help for food, housing, public services, transport, etc. within their local community.

The ideal partnership creates a complete and connected social security net thanks to collaboration through:

• Health departments, which provide a political framework and funding
• Health information organizations to facilitate data sharing and technical infrastructure
• Community action agencies to hire CBOs
• Health plans and hospitals that integrate social care in the provision of medical care
• technological platforms that allow transparent communication to all participants

In this model, each organization works in its own systems – health care providers in their DSE and CBO in their case management tools – linked to a shared infrastructure that facilitates effective coordination of elegant care.

Future vision: any service through any door

The creation of an integrated social security net requires collaboration between policies, technology and partnerships. The Foundation already exists in current political frameworks which recognize the social determinants of health (SDOH) as essential health factors. The technology becoming more and more sophisticated and user-friendly, successful models show that public-private partnerships can create sustainable systems operating both individual needs and population health objectives, while achieving budgetary efficiency objectives.

“No bad door” is not only an aspiration – it is an achievable reality which depends on continuous commitment to holistic intervention, the protection of privacy and collaborative problem solving. Evolution requires continuous support for innovative financing, technological development which hierartes integration on replacement and commitment sustained towards public-private partnerships.

It is only by taking advantage of the forces of all sectors with a complete collaborative approach that we can create the connected and effective social security net that all Americans deserve.

Photo: Elenabs, Getty Images

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