TCACH and Unite Us will work together to advance health equity
The pandemic has exposed inequalities in health care that have existed for decades, as underserved populations, including those who are people with low income, the elderly, people with disabilities, veterans, homeless and uninsured people, lAccess essential resources such as nutrition, housing assistance and transportation.
Two organizations trying to solve this problem, Texas Association of Community Health Centers (TACHC), an association committed to advancing equitable access to quality health care in Texasand unite usa technology company linking health and social, has decided to join forces, announcing earlier this week that TCACH will join the Unite Texas network.
Together, the two entities will develop a coordinated care network that addresses unmet social needs and improves health outcomes for Texans.
“This partnership between TACHC and Unite Us has great potential to impact the lives of our patients. SDoH, or Non-Medical Factors of Health, can drive up to 80% of health outcomes. “community engagement of Unite Us located in the area can help Texas health centers better locate and leverage social resources within their community,” Jana Eubankexecutive director of TCACH, told VatorNews.
“Additionally, the closed-loop referral process within the platform will allow health centers and care managers to track their patients’ care throughout their social service journey.”
What isher way, she explained, is that when TACHC refers patients to social needs services, such as those dealing with housing, transport or food insecurity, its centers will now receive information about the services used by the patient, the layout of the visit been, and whether other needs have been identified.
“We first heard about TCACH because of the great work they are already doing in the state of Texas. They, like Unite Texas, are mission-driven and together we share a vision to advance health equity for Texans,” said Brandon WhiteState Network Director at Unite Us.
“Our collective goal is to provide equitable access to care for all residents as efficiently and effectively as possible no matter where in the state you live and through this partnership we will be able to do just that.”
Founded in 1983, TCACH, which is the federally designated primary care association for Texas, is a private, nonprofit association committed to advancing equitable access to quality health care in Texas by supporting and advocating for Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs). Members operate in urban, rural, and border areas of Texas, all with a mission to advance access to health care for all Texans.
“Texas has the highest percentage and number of people without health insurance in the United States,” Eubank explained.
“In the health care community, we often talk about ‘access to care’ and evaluate policies on whether they will improve or hinder the availability and affordability of health care, especially for low-income people, the elderly, the disabled, veterans, people who are homeless or without health insurance For the FQHC, increasing access to care means making them physically, financially, linguistically and culturally accessible.
Unite Us, which was founded in 2013, is a technology company that builds coordinated care networks of health and social service providers to address all determinants of health.
The company’s coordinated care networks are built in partnership with community stakeholders and our community engagement experts, who are representative of the communities served, are locally hired and skilled in collective impact.
“This locally reflective social care network uses nuanced data and unique community context to understand barriers and leverage enablers to drive positive change in their communities,” White said.
“Unite Us is uniquely positioned to address health equity. Our solution brings together partners from government, healthcare, and community organizations, identifies and elevates the needs of local communities, and builds an inclusive infrastructure that increases access resources and improves the health of all communities.
The Unite Texas network partners are connected through the Unite Us technology platform, which allows them to send and receive electronic referrals in a closed loop, and helps connect people to resources and services such as housing, food, transportation and employment assistance.
By partnering with Unite Us, TACHC will gain a better understanding of patient needs across the state, identify gaps and inequities, and inform policy decisions, Eubanks said.
“The Unite Us platform’s native social needs screening assessments, closed-loop referral process, and robust community network will allow our health centers to spend more time on patient care and better leverage their internal resources to have the greatest impact on the outcome of their patient population,” she explained.
“In addition, Unite Us’ data dashboard, including the Health Equity Dashboard, will allow us to better understand the holistic social needs of our more than 1.6 million patients across the state, disparities in outcomes and needs, and the reach of our local charities.”
As for Unite Us, White believes that the The partnership with TACHC will “facilitate faster, more streamlined connections to actionable care and outcome data that is rooted in community and social infrastructure.”
“Their member Community Health Centers will allow us to advance health equity across much of the state, which will impact many communities. Ensuring that people’s health is a priority and connecting them to essential resources and services that will help them thrive is one of our collective goals and TACHC,” he said.
Comments are closed.