New Hyde Park, New York-based Northwell Health has joined forces with NowPow, a Chicago-based startup, to help patients get assistance in overcoming the social determinants of health.
NowPow offers a platform that connects people to resources for chronic health and social conditions. The tool includes a community resource directory, social determinants of health screenings, resource matching algorithms and closed loop referrals.
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To kick off their partnership, Northwell will offer NowPow’s services to about 1,200 Medicaid patients who are part of Health Home, its care coordination program that provides medical, mental health, substance abuse, social and family support services.
By drawing on diagnostic codes in medical records, NowPow will pinpoint these individuals’ most urgent non-medical needs, like a lack of access to healthy food for those with diabetes. NowPow will then utilize algorithms to recommend community organizations that can help patients. The platform also takes the patient’s geographic location, language spoken and other factors into consideration.
Additionally, Northwell’s community-based partners in the Home Health program will have access to NowPow’s platform.
Through the tool, Northwell providers and partners can track and share referrals, as well as view information on whether patients accessed the community organizations’ resources.
“We know that medical care alone is not enough to make people healthy,” said Northwell vice president of community health Nancy Copperman in a statement. “Total health also requires healthy food, a safe place to live and the ability to get to the care you need. By talking to our patients about these issues and integrating NowPow into the care we provide, we can connect people to the tools and resources they need to create truly healthy lives.”
Founded in 2015, NowPow’s name is a play on the phrase “knowledge is power.” Its technology is used at organizations like Allina Health in Minneapolis and Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.
Earlier this month, the company announced it has teamed up with United Way of Metro Chicago, which is implementing a pilot of the NowPow tool in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago. The goal is to help Chicagoans find the health services and social services they need.
NowPow isn’t the only startup tackling social determinants.
Phoenix, Arizona-based Solera Health recently raised $42 million, which it will use to scale beyond its initial focus on chronic disease prevention and management to address behavioral health and SDOH. Another company, Cityblock Health, offers various services, including those that address social determinants. In April, it revealed it secured $65 million in a Series B round.
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