Denise Hines, executive director of GaHIN, previews her HIMSS26 session that will show how a statewide approach can turn whole-person care from a goal into an operational practice. Denise Hines, executive director of GaHIN
Photo: GaHIN
Mental health is not solely affected by the mind. Physical health certainly has a big impact. As do social determinants of health such as employment, housing, the support of family and friends, and much more. The Georgia Health Information Network, which serves 11 million residents, is taking all of these factors into consideration in its attempt to transform how behavioral health is delivered. GaHIN has linked hospitals, social services and community service boards into a single interoperability framework – the Social Care Integration Initiative, working with the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and  Developmental Disabilities . Whole-person care
Denise Hines, executive director of GaHIN, will detail this state effort at the upcoming  2026 HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exposition in a session titled "Connecting Behavioral Health and Whole-Person Care in Georgia." Hines has more than 30 years of healthcare experience in a variety of settings, including health systems, physician offices, home health, technology vendors, consulting, state government and revenue management. "Behavioral health does not live in a vacuum, and the systems that support it cannot either," Hines explained. "This session focuses on how Georgia is connecting behavioral health with physical health and social services through statewide interoperability so care reflects the whole reality of people's lives. We will walk through the changes that occur when data, responsibility and coordination are shared across organizations rather than locked in silos. "This focus matters right now because fragmentation is no longer sustainable," she continued. "HIMSS26 attendees are navigating rising behavioral health needs, workforce strain and pressure to deliver better outcomes with incomplete information. This session will show how a statewide approach can turn whole-person care from a goal into an operational, actionable practice." Hines will dig into Georgia's Social Care Integration Initiative, which moves behavioral health coordination beyond referrals and into follow-through. Shared visibility
"Instead of sending someone from one system to another and hoping for the best, this model creates shared visibility across behavioral health, medical care, housing and social services so providers can see what happened next and respond when it did not," she said. "I will also discuss how shared data exchange pathways bring behavioral health and social context into everyday workflows," she continued. "The focus is not on new tools for their own sake. It is about ensuring the correct information is available when decisions are made so care teams can respond to the whole person, not just the encounter." One clear takeaway from the session will be that integration starts with alignment, not technology, she added. Progress via shared outcomes
"In Georgia, progress came from bringing agencies, providers and partners together around shared outcomes and building trust,  governance and accountability to support them," Hines said. "The session breaks down how that alignment happened and why it mattered. "When attendees return to their organizations, they can apply this immediately by treating behavioral health integration as a systems effort rather than a side initiative," she concluded. "The Georgia experience offers a practical path for moving from disconnected handoffs to coordinated care that holds together when needs are highest." Denise Hines' session, "Connecting Behavioral Health and Whole-Person Care in Georgia," is scheduled for Tuesday, March 10, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Palazzo I/Level 5 at  HIMSS26 in Las Vegas. Follow Bill's health IT coverage on LinkedIn: Bill Siwicki

How Georgia's HIN is transforming behavioral healthcare delivery

The platform promotes utilization across critical, non-primarily health-related need areas, including food, pest control and transportation. Photo: Graham Oliver/GettyImages
Tech-enabled food delivery company FarmboxRx launched Drivers Health (DH), a comprehensive social needs platform aimed at addressing healthcare members' continuum of social needs. DH centers on a tailored, omnichannel experience that allows members to participate with their covered benefits and continue their overall well-being while at the same time passing critical data insights back to their health plan partners. By addressing social determinants of health (SDOH), FarmboxRx’s platform encourages utilization across critical non-primarily health-related need areas, such as food, pest control, transportation, mail-order pharmacy, housing and utilities. DH aims to deliver fair and customized member experiences through tailored home deliveries and tailor-made two-way communication that facilitates data collection to inform health plans and improve health outcomes across historically hard-to-reach populations. Additionally, DH addresses SDOH and other health-related needs via in-home delivery of essential items and resources, facilitating strategic utilization of SDOH-related benefits, and improving benefit education and health literacy in the member's preferred language. DH also enhances member engagement with an initial call to action and requires ongoing program participation that garners insights, facilitating data collection to inform health plans and improve population health outcomes. "Food as medicine is at the heart of FarmboxRx, it always has been and always will be,"  Ashley Tyrner-Dolce, founder and CEO of FarmboxRx, told MobiHealthNews. "But throughout our journey into healthcare, we became more than just a food company—we became a member engagement company. We unlocked the missing link in helping health plans connect with their members: food. From my own lived experiences, I know that health and well-being go beyond what happens in the doctor's office." Tyner-Dolce asserted that an individual’s health outcomes are heavily dependent on social factors. "FarmboxRx pioneered ‘food as engagement,’ using food as a gateway to strengthen the connection between health plan members and their plans." She pointed out that by delivering customized content and educational materials inside every FarmboxRx delivery, the company drives engagement and empowers members to take an active role in their healthcare journey. "As we enter the next phase of our business, FarmboxRx has strengthened our insight collection and analytics capabilities. We have built a robust foundation of member data, and through Drivers Health, we can seamlessly share these insights with health plans—whether government or private insurers, to identify barriers to engagement and strategically connect members to the benefits available to them," Tyner-Dolce said. THE LARGER TREND
In 2024, FarmboxRx launched a Maternal Health Program to provide access to food and nutrition education to at-risk pregnant women during and after pregnancy. The program can be curated for specific populations. It aims to promote health literacy, focusing on newborn and child immunizations, postpartum mental healthcare, prenatal and postpartum care, vision compliance and nutrition, newborn and delivery preparation, and education on government support programs. In 2023, FarmboxRx announced the launch of Feed by FarmboxRx , an application-based program to supply individuals affected by cuts to SNAP benefits with produce and pantry staples. The program allows six boxes of produce to be delivered to select individuals each month, along with educational magazines for food preparation recommendations. At HIMSS , Georgia Health Information Network discussed its Georgia Unity platform, a health information exchange network developed with local community partners that was created due to the need to understand total health in Georgia’s rural communities. Dr. Denise Hines, executive director at Georgia Health Information Network and Shirelle King, program manager at Georgia Health Information Network, said the goal of the project was to use social determinants of health to close gaps in health equity and build structures for better health outcomes. In 2022, Healthcare data analytics startup Socially Determined closed a $26 million Series B funding round led by Questa Capital . Other participants in the raise included existing investors LRVHealth , OSF Healthcare , Ziegler Link-Age Funds and HealthWorx. The startup wrapped up its $11.1 million Series A in early 2020. Socially Determined is focused on using data to offer insights into the social determinants of health, factors like access to food, housing and transportation. Tags:

FarmboxRx unveils social needs platform for non-health related items

At HIMSS24, Dr. Denise Hines and Shirelle King of Georgia Health Information Network discuss social integration to foster trust in underserved communities. Photo: MobiHealthNews
ORLANDO – At HIMSS24 , Georgia Health Information Network discussed its Georgia Unity platform, a health information exchange network developed with local community partners, created due to the need to understand total health in Georgia’s rural communities. Dr. Denise Hines, executive director at Georgia Health Information Network, and Shirelle King,  program manager at Georgia Health Information Network, said the goal of the project was to use social determinants of health to close gaps in health equity and build structures for better health outcomes. Utilizing Aetna’s health platform, the technology provides closed loop referrals between healthcare organizations and community-based partners targeting high-need individuals. “As providers will tell you, traditional views of health are only about 20% of healthcare. The other 80% is social determinants of health; things like food security, clothing and housing. That is what we wanted to focus on,” said Hines. Whole person care is crucial for building trust in communities as well as achieving improved health outcomes, especially for rural health communities where care interventions are difficult to access and health education can vary greatly. Some of the challenges Georgia Unity faced in beginning the process include the limited capabilities of community partners like homeless shelters, which often have issues with record keeping and inconsistent technology usage. Another issue was the financial constraints preventing community organizations from utilizing new technology being adopted by larger healthcare organizations. This made data gathering, sharing and consistency a key issue Georgia Unity worked to address across the state. The results of the first year of the project included a savings of $11,248 per person, per year and 2,000 referrals to community health resources in Emanuel County, a county of 20,000 residents.

Georgia partners with Aetna Health for Georgia Unity, a social data platform for whole health integration

Making better use of social determinant of health information requires meaningful participation from diverse stakeholders, say the team members behind the Georgia Health Information Network's SDOH data exchange blueprint. Photo: Johner Images/Getty Images
As part of a growing body of standards for healthcare, the ability for providers to access and understand the social determinants of the health of their patients to raise and achieve equity requires enough steps that the Office of the National Coordinator of Health IT created an  SDOH toolkit for communities . ONC says it built the toolkit, which is designed for collaborating community groups and healthcare providers, around "community readiness and stewardship, policy, financing, user support and learning networks." The Georgia Health Information Network, or GaHIN, has been hyper focused on creating the collaboration and structure needed to build trust and security in a new era of data exchange that expands beyond clinical data and aims for whole-person care. At HIMSS24 , which is scheduled for March 11-15 in Orlando, Shirelle King, program manager at the GaHIN, and Evelyn Gallego, the chief executive officer and founder of EMI Advisors, will explain how as an HIE, GaHIN was well positioned to address the challenges of organizing all the pieces that interoperable SDOH data exchange needs. Q. How is policy helping to drive a shift to whole-person care? A. In the last few years policymakers and health experts have realized that achieving better health care outcomes is intrinsically linked to an individual’s SDOH. In Georgia, the state’s designated health information exchange, Georgia Health Information Network, is leading the charge to break down the data siloes that exist between (and sometimes within) community organizations, state agencies and healthcare providers. With deep expertise in building highly secure channels among private and public entities to facilitate the exchange of patient data, GaHIN has the knowledge, technical skills and connections to achieve success in exchanging social care data. Q. How can an HIE enhance existing data infrastructure beyond clinical data exchange? A. HIEs are uniquely positioned to bring together healthcare and social care organizations. Due to their role as health IT data aggregators, HIEs already have the tools needed to standardize and securely share information. The challenge becomes creating a wall between medical and SDOH data, allowing providers to see relevant social data about their patients while isolating personal health information from social care agencies. Making SDOH data easily accessible supports health equity while reducing the burden on community organizations. For GaHIN, that meant upgrading our health technology platform and adding a separate social care integration platform. Because both platforms are from the same vendor, we’re assured of interoperability. Q. What are some approaches data networks are undertaking to foster SDOH information exchange across their participating clinical and community-based provider groups? A. GaHIN undertook a five-step process to launch its social care data initiative. First, we talked with various healthcare, social service and community organizations to ascertain their needs and concerns. The next step was upgrading our existing technology infrastructure to support data exchange and integration efforts. Third, we implemented a comprehensive data governance framework to address data ownership, consent, privacy and security concerns. After that, we initiated a pilot project to test functionality and effectiveness. Our final step will be to scale and expand our platform throughout the state. At each stage, we receive feedback from both healthcare and social care stakeholders. Q. Which trust-enhancing data exchange strategies will you dive into during the session? A. By engaging, collaborating and integrating with state agencies and social care organizations, GaHIN is building trust and aligning our partners with the initiative's mission, purpose, and outcomes. For example, we are fostering engagement by consistently meeting with representatives of social care entities to gather their feedback and strategic guidance. During our session, we will share our comprehensive strategy plan, which outlines objectives, milestones, timelines and key performance indicators. We will also share our use cases and how we support outreach efforts to social care organizations to gain their support and meaningful participation. The HIMSS24 session, Enhancing Whole-Person Care Through Clinical and Social Data Integration, is scheduled for March 12, from11-11:30 a.m. in Room W307A. Learn more and register . Andrea Fox is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.

5 steps to strategic SDOH integration

Peachtree City, Georgia, UNITED STATES
ATLANTA, Aug.  10, 2023  (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Georgia Health Information Network (GaHIN), Georgia’s state-designated health information exchange (HIE), has received a $200,000 grant from Aetna, a CVS Health® company. The grant will fund a pilot project to demonstrate the feasibility and value of a closed-loop referral service that supports social care integration between healthcare organizations and community-based organizations. In addition to the funding, Aetna will be the first adopter of the program. “An individual’s health is deeply influenced by a range of social determinants of health (SDOH) that, in addition to medical care, include access to food, housing, transportation and more,” said Georgia-based Sonya Nelson, Division President at Aetna Medicaid. “A robust, integrated social care network that ensures patients referred for services receive the needed support is central to improving outcomes.”
Providers caring for patients in need may make referrals for social care services, but often these referrals are not acted upon. The patient may not have transportation to get to a food bank, the ability to easily make or receive calls, or the tenacity to talk with multiple departments or agencies. Closed-loop referrals alert the social service provider of the need and then confirm that the connection has been made. “This grant will be used to accelerate the development and implementation of GaHIN’s social care integration strategy and roadmap,” said GaHIN Executive Director Dr. Denise Hines, PMP, FHIMSS. “The insights, technology and best practices developed through this grant and pilot program will lay the foundation for broader expansion across the state of Georgia. Next steps will include identifying care and services communities and using the technology to create closed-loop referral networks on a community-by-community basis.”
“GaHIN has been at the forefront of providing data interoperability among healthcare providers and we are now taking steps to expand that important role by incorporating SDOH factors and supporting closed-loop referrals,” Dr. Hines continued. “This is an exciting time, and I believe we are at the inception of a new age in healthcare that will deliver improved outcomes through the integration of medical and social care.”
Established in 2009, GaHIN has successfully connected members consisting of regional HIEs, health systems, state government agencies and physicians. In 2022, members securely retrieved 14.1 million patient health documents. GaHIN is connected to the national eHealth Exchange , the largest national network, enabling data exchange with neighboring states and national health providers including the VA, and is also a member of DirectTrust, which enables its members to securely exchange information nationally with other providers who are using Direct. About Georgia Health Information Network
Georgia Health Information Network (GaHIN) is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a healthier Georgia through the use and exchange of electronic health information. GaHIN is the state-designated entity for health information exchange (HIE), enacting industry interoperability standards that enable connectivity between providers, state health agencies and national health information organizations. The result is improved quality of care, better health outcomes and reductions in cost. GaHIN’s two products, GeorgiaDirect® and GeorgiaConnX®, connect providers statewide and nationally and are free for credentialed, authorized Georgia users. www.gahin.org

Aetna® Provides Grant to Georgia Health Information Network for SDOH Referral Pilot Project

United Way of Greater Atlanta focuses on ensuring that every child has the opportunity to reach his or her full potential. It invests in several programs in various counties through the United Way Child Well-Being Mission Fund and aims to bring together people and resources to tackle complex community issues and drive sustainable positive change. It is based in Atlanta, Georgia.

United Way of Greater Atlanta

Bridging Gaps Through Collaboration '' The United Way of Greater Atlanta is thrilled about its partnership with Georgia Health Information Network , '' said Donna Burnham , Vice President of United Way .

Georgia Health Information Network GaHIN and United Way Partner to Revolutionize Whole - Person Care in Georgia Sign - up to receive our latest newsletters directly to your inbox

Velatura Public Benefit Corporation is a multi-jurisdictional health data utility focused on facilitating the interoperable sharing of electronic health information within the healthcare sector. The company provides solutions that assist healthcare organizations in sharing data and coordinating care. It is based in East Lansing, Michigan.

Velatura Public Benefit Corporation

Truven Health Analytics is dedicated to delivering the answers clients need to improve healthcare quality and reduce costs. Truven is a healthcare analytics company with robust, widely-respected data assets and advanced analytic expertise that have served the global healthcare industry for more than 30 years. These combine with its unique perspective from across the entire healthcare industry to give hospitals, clinicians, employers, health plans, government agencies, life sciences researchers, and policymakers the confidence they need to make the right decisions, right now, every time. With its healthcare-specific expertise and tools for managing complex and disparate data, the company understands how to implement and integrate tailored analytics that drive improvement.

Truven Health Analytics

The digital health collection includes vendors developing software, platforms, sensor & robotic hardware, health data infrastructure, and tech-enabled services in healthcare. The list excludes pureplay pharma/biopharma, sequencing instruments, gene editing, and assistive tech.

Digital Health

Grant - III

Georgia Health Information Network is a nonprofit organization that facilitates the exchange of electronic health information within the healthcare sector. The organization provides services that allow healthcare providers to access and share patient health data, coordinate social care services, and integrate with electronic health record (EHR) systems. Georgia Health Information Network serves the healthcare industry, including providers, health systems, community organizations, and state agencies. It was founded in 2009 and is based in Atlanta, Georgia.

Date	Round	Amount	Investors	Valuation Valuations are submitted by companies, mined from state filings or news, provided by VentureSource, or based on a comparables valuation model.	Revenue	Sources
8/10/2023	Grant - III	$0.2M	Aetna CVS Health	$XXM	0 FY undefined	1
6/29/2023	Grant - II	$XXM	Subscribe to see more	$XXM	0 FY undefined	10
9/29/2015	Grant	$XXM	Subscribe to see more	$XXM	0 FY undefined	10

Date	8/10/2023	6/29/2023	9/29/2015
Round	Grant - III	Grant - II	Grant
Amount	$0.2M	$XXM	$XXM
Investors	Aetna CVS Health	Subscribe to see more	Subscribe to see more
Valuation	$XXM	$XXM	$XXM
Revenue	0 FY undefined	0 FY undefined	0 FY undefined
Sources	1	10	10

First funding	Last Funding	Investor	Rounds	Type	Location
8/10/2023	8/10/2023	Aetna CVS Health	1 Grant - III	Diversified Financial Services	Connecticut
00/00/0000	00/00/0000	U.S. Department of Agriculture	Subscribe to see more	Government	DC
00/00/0000	00/00/0000	U.S. Department of Health and Human Services	Subscribe to see more	Government	DC

First funding	8/10/2023	00/00/0000	00/00/0000
Last Funding	8/10/2023	00/00/0000	00/00/0000
Investor	Aetna CVS Health	U.S. Department of Agriculture	U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Rounds	1 Grant - III	Subscribe to see more	Subscribe to see more
Board Seats
Type	Diversified Financial Services	Government	Government
Location	Connecticut	DC	DC

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