Northern Light Health receives $250,000 grant to improve healthcare access for marginalized people

Too many Mainers miss medical appointments because they lack transportation or go hungry because they are too proud to seek help. Imagine if we had a better way to uncover what people are experiencing and could instantly connect them with resources to help them find rides to a doctor’s appointment or access a food pantry?

Northern Light Health just received a $250,000 grant from Pfizer and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement to invest in our Social Determinants of Health Screening and Data improvement processes. Social determinants of health are conditions in the places where people live, learn, work, and play that affect a wide range of health outcomes. 

“Northern Light Health is committed to improving health outcomes for all Mainers, in all the communities we serve. Healthcare organizations have a pivotal role in improving the health of the patients we serve by better understanding the environment and social conditions that impact them. We need to not only screen for these conditions that impact the health of individuals but also have a mechanism to connect people with the resources they need to support healthier lives and healthier communities. Our commitment to health equity aims to do just that by leveraging data and technology,” explains Navneet Marwaha, MD, vice president and chief quality officer, Northern Light Health.   

Northern Light Health is one of three recipients nationally to receive this highly competitive quality improvement grant award. With this award, Northern Light Health will:

• Establish a multidisciplinary system-level SDOH Committee to oversee enhanced response to SDOH screening and referral.
• Recruit 4-6 primary care practices to participate in quality improvement projects to achieve SDOH screening rates of at least 70 percent.
• Provide quality improvement support and document best practices in SDOH screening and referral workflows.
• Work with primary care practices to reach SDOH screening and referral targets and promote the adoption of consistent documentation of screening and results.
• Integrate enhanced ability to assess patient and community social health needs by implementing an electronic health record Social Vulnerability Index analytics dashboard.
• Implement an integrated social care referral platform to improve ability to connect patients with social health needs to community resources.

“This is a wonderful opportunity,” shares Carrie Arsenault, MBA, president, Northern Light Beacon Health. “The key to helping people improve their health is to have a robust screening and referral process and the technology to track and record the data so that we can continuously review and improve our processes. We thank Pfizer and IHI for believing in us and investing in the work we are doing to make Maine a healthier place for all our people, regardless of who they are, where they live, or what they do.” The grant funding for this 15-month project became available at the beginning of September.