Unite Us, a New York City-based technology company building coordinated care networks nationwide, recently announced it is expanding its partnership with Nebraska Health Information Initiative, a move that brings it closer to offering services to Iowa health and social service organizations. 
The tech company was developed with the goal of breaking down barriers between clinical and social service providers to allow for comprehensive, whole-person care with trackable outcomes. Unite Us is operating in 42 states currently and is in the process of expanding into the Midwest. Through NEHII, it’s expanding to include Iowa, Missouri, South Dakota, North Dakota, Kansas and Minnesota.
“Our ultimate goal is to help all Americans lead healthier lives, and this extended partnership with NEHII enables providers to better address whole-person needs, including nonmedical issues and social determinants of health,” said Taylor Justice, president of Unite Us. 
Justice said that UniteUs has been able to attain a 94% accuracy rate in connecting individuals with best-fit social service organizations, and has helped social service agencies to achieve 88% average improvement in efficiency in connecting clients with services. The company has about 300 employees deployed across the country so far, he said. 
Jaime Bland, president and CEO of NEHII, said her organization recognizes the need for better care coordination.
“We know patients don’t seek care in a single institution, let alone a single state, especially along our borders,” Bland said in a statement. “Statewide infrastructures for health and social care are more crucial than ever as COVID-19 continues to devastate the nation. We’re eager to help additional states combine their clinical and social care data in one secure location to provide patients and providers a more comprehensive view of their longitudinal health record.”
Organizations like Unite Us represent an increasing recognition by health care providers that social determinants of health are as important as clinical care, a state health care leader said. 
Dr. Bill Appelgate, executive director and CEO of the Iowa Chronic Care Consortium, said he is aware that Unite Us has been hiring some care coordinators in Iowa. Unite Us and several other technology companies are offering health and social care coordination services like these, but they “haven’t taken a big hold in Iowa,” he said. 
“I think that we rely on our local innate systems and capabilities,” Appelgate said. “We aren’t as big and anonymous as some big cities are. Local health care organizations try to create networks of social service agencies around social determinants of health to get their people knowledgeable about what’s there, and to build relationships with them. 
“What’s powerful and good is that medical organizations have come to the realization that medical care is a small part of what creates good health outcomes,” he said.