NYC Health + Hospitals Integrates New Tool into Its Electronic Medical Record to Connect Patients to Community Resources
Run by findhelp, a social service referral platform, the tool includes over 7,000 resource programs serving New York City and is updated multiple times per year to ensure accuracy The new tool is part of NYC Health + Hospitals’ robust social needs screening program, which screened over 250,000 primary care patients for social needs in 2023
Jan 17, 2024
NYC Health + Hospitals today announced that a new tool was integrated into its electronic medical record system, Epic, to connect patients to community resources. Run by findhelp, the tool includes a social service referral platform and network of more than 7,000 programs – including food assistance, transportation, and shelter – serving New York City that is regularly updated to ensure accuracy. The new tool is part of NYC Health + Hospitals’ robust social needs screening program, which screened over 250,000 primary care patients for social needs in 2023. Over one in four patients who were screened last year wanted assistance with social needs. The new platform will help health system staff refer patients to community resources. Later this year, NYC Health + Hospitals will expand its social needs screening to include inpatient settings.
“As doctors, we know that too often our patients are struggling with making ends meet, and that is a particularly frustrating barrier to getting or staying healthy,” said Nichola Davis, MD, MS, Vice President and Chief Population Health Officer at NYC Health + Hospitals. “This new referral platform and patient-facing website for staff is a powerful new tool in our toolbox to help our patients connect with community services and resources.”
“Findhelp was founded on the belief that everyone should be able to find the help they need, when they need it, with dignity and ease,” says Erine Gray, Founder and CEO of findhelp. “We are excited that NYC Health + Hospitals has joined our existing New York network of customers to connect even more New Yorkers to local social resources to help them thrive.”
Findhelp enables NYC Health + Hospitals staff to generate automated resource recommendations after completing the Social Determinants of Health screening tool in Epic. The recommendations are tailored to where patients live and is then added to the paperwork that patients receive after a doctor’s visit. Staff will also use the findhelp platform to search for community-based resources to address patient needs and can share them with patients via text or email in their preferred language. They will also send closed-loop referrals to select community-based organizations to follow-up with patients and connect them to care.
Patients can also access findhelp through a new website to find local community-based organizations that offer social services, such as food assistance, transportation, shelter, and ESL and job training programs. Patients can access the site through MyChart or directly from the NYC Health + Hospitals homepage by clicking “Find Resources in My Community.”
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About NYC Health + Hospitals
NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest municipal health care system in the nation serving more than a million New Yorkers annually in more than 70 patient care locations across the city’s five boroughs. A robust network of outpatient, neighborhood-based primary and specialty care centers anchors care coordination with the system’s trauma centers, nursing homes, post-acute care centers, home care agency, and MetroPlus health plan—all supported by 11 essential hospitals. Its diverse workforce of more than 43,000 employees is uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible. For more information, visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org and stay connected on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
About findhelp
Findhelp is the company modernizing America’s social safety net for anyone who needs help or helps others. With the largest network of community-based organizations and proprietary technology that intelligently matches people with the resources they need, findhelp is the fastest and most reliable way to get help with privacy and dignity. Findhelp has been enabling healthcare, government, education and other organizations to connect people with the social care resources that serve them since 2010. For more information, visit http://company.findhelp.com.