Advancing Health Equity through Housing Connections

By aoguagha | Categories: | Comments Off on Advancing Health Equity through Housing Connections

To address an important gap in true patient care, Denver Health partnered with the Denver Housing Authority and Corporation for Supportive Housing to design safe and supportive low-income transitional housing in a renovated building on the main hospital campus for patients who are elderly and/or disabled as they recover following hospitalization.

The recently implemented homeless registry within the electronic health record (Epic) comprehensively and inclusively identifies patients experiencing homelessness. Once identified, patient needs are assessed and are referred for appropriate next steps related to hospital discharge. In 2023, Denver Health will open 14 new single resident occupancy apartments that will be used as transitional housing for appropriate elderly and/or disabled patients experiencing homelessness.

The goals of this program are to provide patients with a safe place to regain independence after discharge while also reducing the health care expenditures brought on by prolonged hospital stays, which are also associated with risks to patients (i.e., infections, falls, adverse drug events), and to reduce avoidable rehospitalizations due to lack of secure housing.

Denver Health supports housing connections for patients through local partnerships with community-based organizations, including with the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless and the Denver Housing Authority. Denver Health is a referral partner on Denver’s Social Impact Partnership to Pay for Results Act (SIPPRA) Housing to Health Program, which serves individuals experiencing homelessness who are frequent utilizers of healthcare, jails, and other high-cost city services. Denver Health also connects eligible patients to the Statewide Supportive Housing Expansion (SWSHE) pilot program.

To date, this work has resulted in increased screening and identification of patients with housing needs across the integrated health care system, and an increase in patients being referred to housing and other community supports. This has translated into reductions in length of stay and more meaningful connections for patients.