As state Medicaid programs seek ways to address health-related social needs (HRSN), partnerships with community-based organizations (CBOs) are increasingly important. As trusted community entities, CBOs are well positioned to understand community members’ needs and provide essential services and supports. In recent years, the number of CBOs contracting with health systems and managed care organizations (MCOs) to deliver HRSN has grown significantly. Creating the infrastructure for effective partnership, however, can be costly and burdensome for CBOs, particularly for smaller, less resourced organizations. In response, CBOs are forming networks — often led by a backbone organization called a community care hub — to establish shared infrastructure and a systematic approach for MCOs, providers, and CBOs to coordinate service delivery and referrals.

This webinar will explore how state Medicaid programs are using the community care hub model to better tailor and coordinate delivery of HRSN services to address community needs. It will highlight key design and implementation considerations for building effective hubs, based on the experiences of Medicaid agencies in New York and North Carolina.

The states featured are participants in the Medicaid Health-Related Social Needs Implementation Learning Series, led by the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) in partnership with HealthBegins and SIREN, and made possible by the Kaiser Permanente National Community Benefit Fund at The East Bay Community Foundation.

Agenda

I. Welcome and Introduction

Speakers: Anna Spencer, MPH, Senior Program Officer, CHCS, and Amanda Van Vleet, MPH, Senior Director of Social Health, Kaiser Permanente

A. Spencer and A. Van Vleet will provide opening remarks.

II. Medicaid Implementation Considerations for Community Care Hub Models

Speaker: Anna Spencer, CHCS

A. Spencer will highlight key design considerations and implementation lessons from various hub models.

III. State Panel: Reflections from New York and North Carolina Medicaid

Speakers: Emily Engel, MBA, Director of the Bureau of Social Care and Community Supports, New York State Department of Health; and a representative from North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

E. Engel and a representative from North Carolina will provide overviews of their states’ hub models — New York’s Social Care Networks and North Carolina’s Healthy Opportunities Pilots.

After brief state presentations, A. Spencer will moderate a discussion with the presenters to explore community care hub design considerations, implementation lessons, and opportunities for other states interested in building similar models. A. Spencer will also welcome questions from the audience.

IV. Closing

Speaker: A. Spencer