ONC Workshop: Advancing Social Determinants of Health Data Use and Interoperability for Achieving Health Equity

Event Start Date: July 13, 2021 - 2:00 PM EDT

Event End Date: July 13, 2021 - 8:00 PM EDT

The advancement and use of interoperable, standardized data on social needs and on the conditions in which people live, learn, work, and play (or social determinants of health, or SDOH) is critical as part of the comprehensive approach underway to advance equity for all. Addressing inequities in these conditions, often tied to social care needs and driven in large part due to the root causes of poverty and racism, can be supported and informed through the use of health IT.

This workshop will explore existing and emerging data standards, tools, approaches, policies, models, and interventions for advancing the use and interoperability of non-clinical health data for individual and community health improvement. It will enable varying perspectives of health policymakers and heath improvement implementers to highlight inventive solutions, share challenges, and ideas on data modernization to advance health equity. The workshop offers introductory content as well as deep exploration of key topics as part of SDOH health IT data use and interoperability including facilitated, expert stakeholder engagement.

The workshop will begin at 10:00 am ET and end at 4:00 pm ET.

Workshop Objectives:

Highlight health IT approaches of multi-stakeholder and cross-sector partnerships to deliver data-driven health improvement solutions using multi-sector data to deliver care and to address unmet needs outside of the healthcare setting including specific initiatives’ approaches related to workflow, sustainability, and trust.
Explore innovative efforts for SDOH information exchange and interoperable referrals with considerations for consent and equity and focus on examples of implementation from the communities, regions, and states where the SDOH interoperability work is occurring.
Describe the current state and emerging opportunities for SDOH data standardization including the importance of data standards, standards development organization relevant activities, challenges with SDOH data use and interoperability including workflow integration, and standards and processes for interoperable social care referrals—including both necessary content and why this is critical for better care and to address unmet needs.
Support stakeholders getting started with SDOH data use and interoperability in the field by providing an overview of ONC tools, projects, and resources that can help inform the successful use of health IT for SDOH data use and interoperability, including fresh perspectives from ONC grantees focused on building innovative HIE services that benefit public health agencies and improving HIE services available to support communities disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.