Transforming Care Delivery: Driving Systematic Change to Fully Integrate Health and Social Care

Unite Us and City & State, a prominent, policy-focused publication, co-hosted a virtual roundtable that addressed some of the biggest issues in healthcare today: care delivery to support the reentry of justice-involved individuals and Medicaid transformation.

Our founder and president Taylor Justice kicked off the event as the keynote speaker and gave compelling remarks about the lessons learned from the pandemic and the importance of wraparound care.?

“Meeting people where they are to address the social determinants that continue to impact our collective health and well-being, teaches us why and how care coordination can be applied to other sectors of the economy, like education and criminal justice,” said Justice.?

Justice concluded his remarks by saying that the continued building of partnerships across health and social care services, tackling complex problems together as a united front, and using data to translate community needs into action, will build the essential social care infrastructure needed to improve whole-person health.

What did changemakers in Pennsylvania and New York have to say about advancing social care investment and systems transformation? Below highlights key takeaways from the panel discussions.?

Reentry for Justice-Involved Individuals

The first panel discussion focused on current initiatives and opportunities to better support justice-involved individuals returning to their communities. Key topics included how to plan for individuals with multiple and complex needs, coordinated and timely community-based health and social services, and state and local regulatory opportunities.

“If we believe that reentry is meant to be a fresh start, then the question for us is, ‘What are we doing to remove all those barriers to make sure that it really is a fresh start?’ And it falls on communities, providers, employers, and technology to ensure that this is possible.” – Samantha Adelberg, Senior Policy Manager, Unite Us

“If we want to reduce recidivism, we have to understand and appreciate and support people’s efforts to overcome their trauma and do better.” – Robert Reed, Executive Deputy Attorney General, Pennsylvania Office of Public Engagement

Medicaid Transformation

The second panel discussion examined opportunities to enable a paradigm shift in approaches to improve health outcomes through Medicaid redesign. Key topics included how to broaden funding sources and exploring avenues to sustainably fund health-related social interventions through value-based payment—and what that means for community-based organizations.?

“The cure for a fragmented system cannot be a range of fragmented approaches with every plan and hospital system and government agency going down a path alone. This is where the benefit of a common infrastructure comes into play.” – Eric Beane, Vice President, Regulatory and Government Affairs, Unite Us

“Ultimately, we are looking to create an environment where folks don’t need to be in cycles of government assistance in perpetuity—so they can lead a life of self-sufficiency and dignity.” – Taylor Justice, Co-Founder and President of Unite Us

Watch the webinar to learn from experts in the Northeast as they examine challenges around community-wide care coordination and discuss how meaningful data helps achieve social care coordination at scale.