Humana, Signify Health Partner to Support San Antonio MA Members’ SDOH Needs
Humana and healthcare technology company Signify Health are working together with the Alamo Area Community Network (AACN) to support Humana Medicare Advantage members in San Antonio, with the goal to address those individuals’ social care needs.
The organizations plan to leverage AACN’s community resources and connect those in need with health-related social services, such as food, transportation, housing, and financial assistance. The AACN is a partnership of over 40 organizations, with numerous programs and services that are committed to working together to effectively impact social determinants of health (SDOH) for San Antonio residents.
This move also enhances the community efforts that Humana has built over its now six-year Bold Goal journey to address health-related social needs. Through the initiative, Humana and its many partners pay special attention to food security and social connection, with the intent of improving holistic health and health-related quality of life, the organization says.
Through the establishment of the San Antonio Health Advisory Board, Bold Goal has facilitated cross-sector groups in creating community-wide initiatives to impact diabetes, food insecurity, and loneliness and isolation. Through the tenure of the San Antonio’s Bold Goal, San Antonio has seen an 6.8 percent reduction in unhealthy days for Humana Medicare Advantage members.
The CDC’s health-related quality of life “Healthy Days” tool is used to track and measure population health. The tool, which measures mentally and physically unhealthy days of individuals over a 30-day period, aims to provide the flexibility to pinpoint where and when health happens in each community, to measure health outcomes, and to create proactive interventions.
Humana recently announced that it conducted nearly 6.2 million screenings for health-related social needs in 2020. It set an enterprise-wide goal to conduct 3 million screenings, so in the end, the company more than doubled that goal.
The nonprofits, government agencies, providers, payers, and other social service organizations that are a part of the AACN, which use Signify Health’s proprietary technology platform, will look to collaborate to assure people’s needs are being addressed and close the loop on referrals between AACN participants. “The partnership will not only ensure needs are being met and that community services are being accessed, but will create an understanding of the effects on clinical outcomes for individuals and families over time,” officials said in an announcement.
“It’s not enough to just support our community partners in their work. In order to create real change, we, as a community, are rethinking the way we approach social health and clinical health. By joining the Alamo Area Community Network, we are able to integrate the way we address health-related social needs into the same system as our San Antonio community partners,” said Humana Texas Medicare President Bill White.
Signify Health’s partnership with Humana also includes the tech company’s experienced social care coordinators who will provide outreach to Humana members to help them resolve their unmet needs, officials added.
The AACN is convened by the Kronkosky Charitable Foundation and cofounded by Autism Lifeline Links, United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County and the Warm Springs Foundation. “True collaboration across such a broad spectrum of organizations – social service providers, healthcare providers, philanthropies, government agencies, health plans – is only possible through trust. Humana is a trusted influencer in San Antonio and a great partner for the AACN,” said Cara Magrane, director of initiatives and partnerships, Kronkosky Charitable Foundation.
