How Independent Health used allco, a digital social care network, to achieve Health Equity quality measure

Independent Health recently became the only health insurance plan in New York state to achieve the new HEDIS Social Need Screening and Intervention (SNS) measure. These types of quality measures are a new way for the Centers of Medicare & Medicaid to drive better health equity and outcomes in communities across the U.S.

The Buffalo-based health plan achieved this goal – which unlocked financial incentives for 2023 but becomes a government requirement this year – in partnership with wellconnected, a Buffalo-based firm that builds technology products to create better social care in the U.S.

wellconnected’s flagship product, allco, is a first-of-its-kind case management platform that creates an intuitive way for customers to manage social care in a community. allco allows its users to manage everything from intake assessments to referrals, a system that pulls regional nonprofit networks closer together and creates efficiency and transparency in social care.

Independent Health inked a three-year deal with wellconnected in 2023, and its Red Shirt Team used allco to contact nearly 8,000 Medicaid members. Approximately 20% of those members took the call, participated in a survey, and then received referrals to social care agencies through Western New York that ranged from housing to mental health to financial wellness.

This wasn’t just about achieving a government certification. It was a way for Independent Health to take a proactive stance on driving its members into available services that will improve their well-being. Independent Health is now considering expanding the allco surveys beyond its Medicaid population, building more resources around personalized member journeys that are managed through allco.

“Having a health insurance company understand your life situation and then assisting you with becoming healthier is a major paradigm shift,” said Duane Conners, wellconnected CEO. “Everyone is used to their health insurance agencies approving or not approving their claims. But Independent Health is taking an advanced approach to helping people have more meaningful, healthy, and successful lives outside the walls of healthcare providers.”

allco was developed together with partners in the social care and nonprofit industries. Many of those agencies still rely on outdated methods of managing their business and reporting, even though funders are asking for more integrated and accurate reporting.

allco’s goal is to create better processes within the individual businesses, and to generate a layer of data that can be used for reporting. It’s the first time the social care industry has a way to track patient journeys and make the appropriate referrals, and a true digital social care network.

wellconnected customers include funders such as health plans, government entities and philanthropic organizations, along with individual agencies. Some of our flagship customers include 211 WNY, Monmouth County (New Jersey), Catholic Charities of Buffalo and Peace Prints of WNY.