As government healthcare programs increasingly require that health plans and providers identify and address patients’ health-related social needs, partnering with community-based organizations (CBOs) is an efficient and effective means of providing essential social care benefits to health plan members, many of whom face significant structural and social barriers, including racism, poverty and isolation.

This resource guide, created by the Camden Coalition, the Partnership to Align Social Care, and the Aging and Disability Business Institute, presents five overarching reasons that health plans should work with CBOs and community care networks as their contracted social care partners:

• Powerful innovation partners: CBOs offer the expertise and infrastructure to be powerful innovation partners to health plans for social care delivery.
• Trust with members: CBOs foster a local presence and engender trust with members that can strengthen health plans’ reputation and enhance their market share.
• Return on investment: CBOs can produce a significant return on investment for health plans.
• Efficiency in coverage: Community care networks, operated by community care hubs, offer health plans greater efficiency and coverage in social care contracts.
• Securing public contracts: CBO relationships offer health plans a competitive advantage in securing public contracts.