Save the Date for the 2027 Annual Conference – September 27-29, 2027, St. Louis, Missouri
Save the Date for the 2027 Annual Conference – September 27-29, 2027, St. Louis, Missouri
Civitas is proud to serve as Gravity Project’s lead implementation partner, advancing the adoption and use of standardized social determinants of health (SDOH) data across the health care ecosystem. Through our national network, Civitas connects organizations implementing Gravity standards with Gravity leadership and one another to support real-world implementation, testing, shared learning, and the continuous improvement of SDOH data standards.
Civitas and the Gravity Project work together to help organizations move from standards to implementation. Our partnership brings together Gravity’s standards expertise with Civitas’ national network and experience convening organizations working across health and social care. Our work includes:
Civitas leads and facilitates Gravity’s bimonthly Implementation Affinity Group, a peer-to-peer forum where implementers can share experiences, discuss challenges, and exchange lessons learned.
Civitas and Gravity partner to deliver training and technical assistance to organizations implementing SDOH data standards across the country.
Civitas connects its members and broader network with Gravity leadership, creating opportunities to exchange implementation insights and inform ongoing standards development.
Civitas contributes to Gravity’s governance through representation on both the Operating Committee and Steering Committee.
In January 2024, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approved the New York Health Equity Reform (NYHER) 1115 Waiver Amendment. This amendment allows New York State (NYS) to fundamentally reform the way health care services are delivered through Medicaid by fully integrating social care and health care into the fabric of the NYS Medicaid program.
NYS leverages existing SHIN-NY infrastructure to ensure that referral and social care need data are fed into the statewide data repository. Referral platforms/data systems that support screening and referral processes are approved by the State to ensure interoperability. Civitas, in partnership with the Gravity Project, has provided technical assistance in the implementation of Gravity standards to the New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC) and national dissemination since the waiver approval in 2024.
The Civitas-Gravity partnership is helping organizations translate national standards into practical, on-the-ground approaches to exchanging SDOH data.
Current and recent efforts span New York, Colorado, Arizona, Oklahoma, and Missouri, with additional opportunities on the horizon. Across these efforts, Civitas and Gravity support organizations as they put standards into practice, strengthen interoperability, and advance more consistent exchange of SDOH data.
Interested in implementation support or partnering with Civitas and Gravity?
Gravity Project’s Implementation Affinity Group, facilitated by Civitas, provides a regular forum for organizations implementing Gravity standards to connect with peers and Gravity leadership.
Meeting bimonthly and open to the public, the group creates space for implementers to:
The report represents a significant advancement in the integration of health and social care. By engaging with social care providers from various sectors, the report uncovers the critical nuances of SDOH data standards and the challenges of social care provision. These insights emphasize the need for ongoing engagement from all sectors to navigate the complexities at the intersection of health and social care.
Curious about how Civitas and Gravity Project partnered with our pilot sites on this RWJF-supported project? Watch our Collaboratives in Action webinar: “National Dissemination, Implementation, and Scale of Gravity Project Social Determinants of Health Data Standards and Interoperability to Advance Public Health Data.”
Following session 1 of our Collaboratives in Action session discussing Civitas and Gravity’s partnership, tune into the second webinar discussing the team’s Co-Design meeting. In addition to experts at Civitas and Gravity Project, this meeting featured community-based organization leaders who weighed in on how to successfully implement Gravity data sharing standards at the local level.
In the complex world of health care, data standardization is a pivotal yet often underappreciated aspect of delivering equitable care. […]
In an era where health care is evolving to embrace a more holistic approach, the University of Colorado Hospital has […]
The six New York State certified Health Information Exchanges (also known as Qualified Entities) and the New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC) are working together to implement statewide standards for the intake and handling of social risk data. During this process, the group is using Gravity Project terminology and coding standards to ensure consistent handling of social risk data across the state.
University of Colorado Hospital aims to improve its capture processes for social risk data, develop an equitable approach to resource referrals, and optimize the capacity of limited care management staff while expanding access to resources for patients. This data is also being used to inform the UCH community needs assessment to identify patient catchment areas with high social needs.
MyHealth aims to offer standardized screening and referral for social needs at every site of care in Oklahoma using Gravity-vetted terminology. By evaluating and planning for needs based on standardized data, MyHealth and its multisectoral partners can work to improve health equity and utilization of screening across sectors.
Pima County and the Southwest Tribe aim to initiate data exchange between the county and tribe within the State Communicable Disease Surveillance System. This work will support the tribe in data collection to inform procedures and policies that promote the health of the tribal community.
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