PARTNERme Pilots Are Making an Impact for Colorado Patients & Providers
The past year of the pandemic and social distancing has clearly deemonstratted the importance of social connectedness in determining health and well-being outcomes. At VNL, our years of systems mapping has included research and development specifically to develop tools for providers to use this knowledge to improve their patient’s care outcomes. PARTNERme, our award-winning social connectedness screening tool, is making waves in the industry. With new pilot projects launching in a variety of settings this spring, we’re excited to share the ways we’re using this exciting new tool.
PARTNREme Includes a Unique Method of Measuring a Patient's Risk of Adverse Social Connectedness
The need to measure and “see” a patient’s social connectedness, and discern when that person is at risk of adverse social connectedness, is greater than ever. We saw how many organizations are trying to tackle this problem during our participation in the Prime Health Innovation Challenge. Fourteen safety net organizations expressed interest in pilot testing PARTNERme. After advancing through three rounds of competitive judging by experts in healthcare technology and equity, PARTNERme selected as a promising new innovation tackling health inequity in Colorado today, recognized for our unique solution to this problem. With new support and funding from the Colorado Health Institute and Prime Health, we’re expanding new pilot programs into a number of exciting areas to demonstrate its value directly with patients and providers.
PARTNERme is a Social Connectedness & SDOH Screening Tool
While numerous tools already exist to screen for the social determinants of health, PARTNERme takes a unique strength-based, network science, approach to identifying needs and filling gaps. The tool asks patients to identify social needs, like housing or employment. However, it also asks them who in their personal support network helps them with these needs, along with questions on their trust, dependency, and loneliness. This data allows us to provide targeted referrals for needs they aren’t meeting. The research suggests this method will significantly improves the effectiveness of social needs screening and referrals, especially for groups disproportionally facing adverse social connectedness.
Our New Pilot Projects Use PARTNERme in Multiple Settings
Our pilot projects are testing PARTNERme directly in the field with care providers and their patients to help us test and improve the tool for broader use. These projects fall into four different categories…
Screening Veterans for Adverse Social Connectedness Risk
This ongoing pilot project with the Veterans Affairs screened veterans in the Rocky Mountain region using PARTNERme in several pyschometric and social measures and indexes.
Screening & Referral for Childhood Adverse Experiences
This ongoing pilot project used PARTNERme to screen kids and families for adverse childhood experiences and refer them to community resources.
SDOH Screening & Referrals at Integrated Pediatric Care Clinics
This ongoing launching pilot will use PARTNER me at two integrated pediatric care clinics in Colorado, measuring patient adverse social connectedness and other social needs, and referring them to community resources.
Loneliness Screening & Referrals at Primary Care Clinics
We will soon be launching pilot projects across three primary care clinics, focusing on social connectedness and loneliness screening and referrals, including innovative nature-based referrals.
Learn more about PARTNERme: Get in Touch with our Team!
We believe PARTNERme has the potential to change the way we think about social connectedness and patient care, improving health and well-being outcomes and reducing care costs for providers. Even more importantly, by targeting those with higher than average social needs, including marginalized groups and others cut off from resources and social support, it can help reduce health inequity inherent in current systems of care. If you’re interested in learning more about PARTNERme or using the tool for your own practice, please reach out to our team. We would love to connect and see how PARTNERme can serve as a solution for you!
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