The purpose of this interactive ‘think tank’ was to inspire, inform, and build upon a burgeoning ‘community of practice’ dedicated to enhancing a national health and human services interoperability strategy. This invitation-only conference brought together over one hundred leaders from government, private industry, academia, foundations, courts and national associations to share information across silos and advance ways to link systems, people and initiatives to support interoperability during these challenging times. 

Significant advancements in information technology have fueled change across the health and human services sector. Driven by a strong commitment to change, promising interoperability examples have emerged that are beginning to produce consumer-centric and technology-enabled systems that better serve at-risk and disadvantaged populations. Innovative leaders have begun to leverage shared services that link data systems, improve service coordination, streamline business processes, enhance operations and support better decision making.

Today, we stand at a critical crossroads as the increasing demand for services is challenged by economic, social and political forces that compete for attention and resources. The landscape in health care has dramatically changed with the signing of the Affordable Care Act. The states and the federal government are now engaged in a fundamental shift in how health care is accessed, delivered and funded across the nation. The 2011 conference explored ways to not allow the “tsunami”  of change within health care reform to overwhelm interoperability efforts within human service. 

Given these daunting challenges, many states are contemplating the need to make a choice between continuing to build upon the progress that has been made by linking Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Child Welfare and other human services programs or abandon these efforts and construct new bridges into the health insurance world. Without a strong commitment to a shared strategic vision for interoperability the field of human services could be left behind to suffer the costly effects of system fragmentation and duplication.

The 2011 conference provided a stimulating learning environment and a rigorous idea exchange focused on creating ways to sustain, reinforce and build interoperability efforts across programs and agencies. With participation by the Administration for Children and Families/HHS and other federal agencies, we explored innovative practices and practical ways to enhance collaboration across federal, state and local agencies with the goal of bridging services silos. Discussions and ideation sessions focused on ways to build and/or share the infrastructure necessary to reduce administrative burden, lower operational costs and improve service coordination. We devoted considerable time discussing President Obama's recently released Executive Order 13563 'Administrative Flexibility, Lower Costs and Better Results for State, Local and Tribal Governments'.  This Order seeks to reduce unnecessary regulatory and administrative burdens and redirect resources to services that are essential to achieving better outcomes at lower costs within the next six months.

The conference involved faculty and experts from multiple universities, foundations, national associations and courts, as well as representatives from federal, state, local, tribal and nonprofit organizations, who contributed to the presentations, dialogue and ideation. Representatives from global technology and businesses provided real-world expertise and case examples. 

We have posted conference presentations, videos and graphics on the SOC National Interoperability Community of Practice web site.  (You can request a user ID and password by completing the 'contact us' form on the right side of this page). We also plan to set up periodic webinars to discuss topics from the conference and other subjects.  Please sign up for our newsletter or request other information to stay informed or get more involved.