Solutions to Connect Minnesotans with Community Resources and Supports will be Co-Designed by Community, Health Care, and Payer Organizations with Stratis Health Facilitation

Stratis Health, in partnership with Collective Action Lab, has been commissioned by a local private funder to facilitate the co-creation of a common approach using technology to support and facilitate referrals to address social needs across multiple sectors in Minnesota. An open invitation to a broad range of individuals and organizations will launch the collaborative design of a sustainable shared solution for connecting people with needed and culturally responsive community resources and supports such as health care, food, transportation, and housing.

“We recently completed the first phase of this project to gauge interest across community, health care, payer, and state agency organizations for exchanging social needs referrals,” said Jennifer Lundblad, Stratis Health president & CEO. “We are very encouraged that more than 90% of respondents are interested and willing to participate in designing a common approach to optimize technology for the good of individuals and communities.”

Social needs resource referrals technology solutions enable organizations to screen for and identify a range of needs and electronically refer them to responsive services. Community-based organizations provide assistance beyond what the health care system is able or designed to deliver and vice-versa. A shared approach will expand the accessibility and navigability of resources for Minnesotans. An added and powerful benefit is the automated solutions offer a “closed-loop” feedback mechanism that can allow referring organizations to see whether and how specific referrals are addressed and acted upon.

“Very often, initiative design and change of this nature is directed and designed by only one part of the overall system, and it is usually the part with money and power,” said Olivia Mastry from Collective Action Lab. “This project is exciting in that it embeds equity in the process itself by creating conditions and agency for all who are impacted by the changes to shape and drive the recommended solution.”

The staged process for co-creating a common social needs resource referral approach in Minnesota will include convening stakeholders to identify the operational, financial, and other “must-haves” from all perspectives. This will help ensure the approach will succeed for the people using it, including the referring community and health care organizations. The first step is to establish a Guiding Council selected by and composed of members from a wide variety of stakeholders. The Guiding Council will deliberate and recommend the common approach and how it should be designed and implemented.

Organizations involved in the earlier stakeholder engagement process will be included in this next phase of the work, as are any other interested organizations. It is a “bring-a-friend” effort. If your organization was not involved in the first phase and would like to be going forward, contact Senka Hadzic, shadzic@stratishealth.org.