Integrated Social Care Data: The Key to Unlocking Community Health
Welcome to Findhelp’s Social Care Data Series, where Carla Nelson, Findhelp’s Sr. Director of Healthcare and Public Policy, examines the role of social care data in whole person care and community health strategies. Part 1 describes the types of social care data available and their part in strategic investment and policy decisions. Future parts of this series will focus on how this data supports decision-making in specific sectors, including the healthcare providers and payer settings, government, education, and employers.
$4.5 trillion—that’s how much the U.S. spends on healthcare each year. Yet chronic illness and poor health outcomes continue to be common in too many of the nation’s communities. Without clear visibility into community needs, healthcare organizations risk wasting millions on ineffective programs. Siloed, incomplete data slows policy adoption, weakens investment decisions and limits care coordination between providers and social services — leaving patients without the support they need.
In this paper, we discuss how integrated social care data with healthcare analytics can help organizations identify unmet needs, optimize resource allocation, and improve health outcomes.
You’ll learn how:
- Combined datasets provide actionable insights, empowering organizations to identify unmet needs, allocate resources efficiently, and improve service delivery.
- Social care data fills critical gaps in understanding community health.
- Technology can play a pivotal role in collecting, analyzing, and sharing this data.
The problem: Rising costs and slow-to-advance policy change
United States healthcare costs continue to rise, impacting every economic sector. In 2022, U.S. healthcare spending accounted for 17.3% of the country’s gross domestic product, with total spend reaching $4.5 trillion (source: CMS). Approximately 20% of these dollars flow through private health insurance companies, 15% through the Medicare program, including Medicare Advantage, and nearly 13% through Medicaid programs’ Federal and State shares. Of the healthcare dollars spent, 50% paid for hospital care and physician and clinical services.
The nation’s health dollar ($4.5 trillion), calendar year 2022: where it came from
The solution: Integrated social care data
Data capabilities in all sectors are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Healthcare, government, community, and other business sectors are seeking more data, building data warehouses, and partnering with technologies that can help them understand the patient or constituent landscape. Social care data is a critical piece of the picture.
This can include:
- Social needs screening results
- Related referrals and services
- Demographics
- Available social care programs
These data can be combined with healthcare claims data, insurance eligibility data, and publicly-available datasets to drive strategy and decision-making.
Actionable insights
Using Findhelp’s native analytics, a state could review the searches for social care services conducted using the platform to better understand the needs across the state. Social care data from Findhelp can be analyzed in different ways (e.g. by user type or ZIP Code) to help decision-makers understand what resources may be lacking. These data can also be visualized to show searches overlaid with available social care programs that address the particular need.
Improving data collection, aggregation, analytics, and use in the social care space will yield positive results for our communities. It contributes to:
- Informed investments
- Improved service placement and availability
- Effective management of finite resources
- Better understanding of populations and communities at-large
As data standardization matures, data models and analyses will mature, enabling better, more accurate decision-making.
Using integrated social care data to make decisions
Several states use the Findhelp platform to underpin social care service delivery, providing an integrated and seamless closed-loop referral system that bridges the health and social care sectors. While social care data capabilities improve, organizations can take action now to understand community needs and plan for the future.
To learn how your organization can use social care data to identify strategies, make decisions, and assess performance, connect with us.
