MARSHFIELD, Wis. & CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Marshfield Clinic Health System, one of the largest rural, integrated health systems in the country, is partnering with NowPow and a broad range of community organizations to connect patients with local resources to improve their health and quality of life. Marshfield Clinic Health System will leverage NowPow’s personalized community referral platform to identify the social determinants of health (SDOH) needs of patients and community members and provide tools to connect individuals with resources to address these needs.
The Community Connections Team and Community Resources at Marshfield Clinic Health System will use NowPow’s platform to screen patients for five core health-related social needs – housing, food, transportation, utilities and personal safety – along with additional needs such as employment, education, child care and financial strain. NowPow’s platform will then generate a personalized list of highly matched community-based service organizations, such as food pantries, shelters and assistance programs, as well as tools to help connect patients with these resources.
“The pandemic made more obvious than ever the pervasive inequities that still define life for far too many Americans,” said Dr. Susan Turney, CEO of Marshfield Clinic Health System. “We are proud to be part of a paradigm shift that recognizes a person’s health for the complex picture it is, and works to address the structural inequities and socioeconomic factors that affect it. It is a privilege to partner with NowPow on this work to connect patients and families with needed resources so they can attain their full health potential.”
Marshfield Clinic Health System and NowPow are working together to build a comprehensive network of agencies and programs serving northern, central and western Wisconsin, ensuring that individuals have access to all the latest and most relevant community-based resources. This initiative supports the efforts of Marshfield Clinic and its affiliated health plan, Security Health Plan, to embrace an accountable care model that has been able to lower health system care costs thereby decreasing out-of-pocket care costs for patients and returning money to communities the Health System serves.
The NowPow platform’s ability to track referrals and encourage individuals to fulfill their self-care goals fosters engagement and provides insight into referral outcomes. This data will help efforts to map unmet needs in communities, inform future expansion of the referral network and provide a more comprehensive picture of an individual’s health needs.
“Marshfield Clinic Health System, which is home to Wisconsin’s largest private medical research institute, shares NowPow’s commitment to research and applying a data-driven approach to population health grounded in science,” said Rachel Kohler, CEO, NowPow. “Americans living in rural areas face a number of risk factors for health disparities, including geographic isolation, limited access to health care specialists and limited job opportunities. We are excited to partner with Marshfield Clinic Health System to address these issues and improve more lives in rural Wisconsin, while also deepening our impact across the state.”
NowPow is a tech company based in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood, where the idea to build community referral networks was born. Today, NowPow’s platform supports community referral networks across the nation. Community-based organizations interested in joining the Health System’s efforts to address health equity in rural Wisconsin can contact the Center for Community Health Advancement at 715-221-8400.
About Marshfield Clinic Health System
Marshfield Clinic Health System is an integrated health system whose mission is to enrich lives through accessible, affordable compassionate health care. The Health System serves Wisconsin with more than 1,400 providers comprising 170 specialties, health plan, and research and education programs. Primary operations include Marshfield Clinic, nine Marshfield Medical Center hospitals, Marshfield Children’s Hospital, Marshfield Clinic Research Institute, Security Health Plan and Marshfield Clinic Health System Foundation. Learn more at marshfieldclinic.org.
About NowPow
NowPow’s personalized community referral platform supports whole person care across whole communities. NowPow’s referrals are highly matched and filtered, making it easy to connect people to the right community resources so everyone can stay well, meet basic needs, manage with illness and care for others. NowPow’s population health solution provides deep community resource and referral insights to support process improvement, network health and quality, and care access and experience. Learn more at NowPow.com.