Addressing the health-related needs of people experiencing homelessness enables individuals and families to access and retain stable housing. At the same time, stable housing is essential to help maintain health and wellness and to eliminate the costs of unnecessary emergency department and hospital utilization. With both sectors recognizing that housing is a key social determinant of health, enhancing cross-system data sharing and coordination can improve both health and housing outcomes for individuals with complex care needs.

Both sectors recognize that data sharing is central to effective coordination across systems. It can pave the way to meaningful collaboration and partnership, resulting in better communication and case conferencing to support effective cross-system interventions, such as medical respite and enhanced case management. The COVID-19 public health crisis has added further incentive for collaboration, as people experiencing homelessness have been disproportionately at-risk. Cross-sector collaboration has been key to protecting individuals from being infected, reducing transmission, and supporting recovery. Ongoing collaboration can build on the synergies and models that have arisen from the two systems working closely together to address the pandemic.

In 2020 Homebase undertook an environmental scan to identify efforts underway in California and nationally to document how information is shared between health care and the organizations that serve people experiencing homelessness. Based on both traditional research and one-on-one interviews with many organizations that have engaged in data sharing efforts, the project identified the many challenges and barriers to effective cross-sector collaboration.

Homebase shared the findings and community examples in their 2021 report, “Breaking Down Silos: How to Share Data to Improve the Health of People Experiencing Homelessness.” Based on identified scalable best practices, in 2022 they put together, “How to Share Data: A Practical Guide for Health and Homeless Systems of Care,” which provides tools and concrete examples that enable health and homeless systems to share data effectively, profiling two communities that are deep in projects effectively sharing data across sectors (San Diego 211 and Alameda County). This session will focus on both Homebase’s Practical Guide and will share concrete recommendations that, if adopted, can facilitate cross-sector data sharing and collaboration.