As we continue to shift towards value based health care, the recognition of specific drivers that are influencing health outcomes has become ever more important. This focus is predicated on population health management strategies that are looking at the care continuum holistically in order to thrive in a system of care increasingly tying reimbursement to healthier patient outcomes.
In today’s health care environment, a significant amount of attention is being directed towards social determinants of health. Social determinants of health encompasses the non-medical drivers of health that impact areas such as: transportation, food insecurity, housing, and interpersonal violence. Systematically connecting the many human service organizations that provide these vital services with the health care eco-system of hospitals and providers has historically been a challenge. With a new tool called, NCCARE360, state officials intend to help bridge this gap for a healthier North Carolina.
NCCARE360 is the first statewide coordinated network that includes a robust data repository of shared resources and connects healthcare and human service providers together to collectively provide better opportunities to improve health. Establishing an electronic platform that can facilitate a bi-directional connection of information between human service providers and the health care community is designed to increase communication by providing a feedback loop on the outcome of that connection. That feedback is intended to decrease fragmentation while promoting access and care coordination within the community. To identify what resources are available within the community, NCCARE360 will also function as a statewide resource directory. This directory will act as a data repository, integrating various community resource directories through a common platform that can then be accessed by users with a better understanding of available community resources.
NCCARE360 is partnering with several organizations to bring this vision to life including: United Way, North Carolina 211, Expound, and Unite Us. NCCARE360 began implementation in January 2019 with a stated goal of being available in every North Carolina county by the end of 2020.
Established in 1995, Pitt Partners for Health is Pitt County’s community health coalition. Pitt Partners for Health is led by a Steering Committee that represents the community hospital (Vidant Medical Center), Pitt County Health Department, East Carolina University, business and community members. Our partnership utilizes the Community Health Needs Assessment to determine our focus areas. The current priority areas are: Chronic Disease, Access to Care and Behavioral Health. Through these priority areas Pitt Partners for Health works to impact the health of those in our community. PPH is dedicated to working together “To improve the population health of Pitt County through coalition building and partnership.” This is our desire and our mission statement.
Please come and join with us!
PPH meets on the 2nd Thursday of each month in community locations throughout the county. For more information on joining Pitt Partners for Health or the NCCARE360 tool please contact Stefanie Cabaniss at 252-847-8265 or Stefanie.cabaniss@vidanthealth.com