In April 2024, the Administration for Community Living (ACL), with support from EMI Advisors (EMI),
launched the Multi-State Information Technology (IT) Learning Collaborative for cross-agency state teams
to learn from each other about strategies to realize interoperable exchange between health and social
care systems. The Learning Collaborative occurred as a monthly meeting over a four-month period with
active participation from state agencies and community organizations. The Learning Collaborative
structure enabled collaborative dialogue and generated actionable recommendations. Key topics covered
include:

• Technical infrastructure for seamless data exchange,
• Supporting cross-sector care coordination,
• Community and data governance strategy, and
• Funding opportunities for social care technology integration.

This report summarizes key discussions from the Learning Collaborative that focus on supporting
sustainable pathways for integrating health and social care while addressing knowledge and IT
infrastructure gaps related to referral systems and electronic health and human services information
exchange.

This report also includes key considerations for state agencies, community partners, and federal entities:

• State Opportunities: State agencies ought to focus on coordinating across departments to develop a strategy for health and human services information exchange including interoperable referral systems, align funding sources, and establish inclusive governance processes that involve both public and private stakeholders.
• Community Partner Opportunities: Community organizations are encouraged to engage in multi-sector collaboratives, adopt standardized data practices, and utilize interoperable data systems to enhance care coordination and service delivery.
• Federal Coordination Opportunities: The federal government provides crucial, targeted funding and incentives, promoting the adoption of common data standards, and investing, as feasible, in the necessary IT infrastructure to support secure, interoperable data exchange across sectors.

These considerations highlight the need for comprehensive cross-agency collaboration, the adoption of
consistent standards, and the integration of technical infrastructure to create sustainable, scalable
systems that enable electronic health and human services information exchange.