Care Partner Network and Unite Us Celebrate Two Years of Connecting Missouri and Kansas Residents to Social Care Resources to Improve Community Health

JOPLIN, Mo., Oct. 30, 2023 — The Care Partner Network (CPN), a regional collaborative to support the needs of individuals in our communities, and Unite Us, the nation’s leading software company enabling cross-sector collaboration to improve people’s health and well-being, announced they have successfully improved community health by connecting over 74 percent of individuals and families within the CPN network across Kansas and Missouri to more than 200 community-based organizations that provide assistance with food insecurity, housing, and utilities.

The Care Partner Network is powered by Unite Us’ shared technology platform, which collaborates with more than 80 regional community-based organizations and two health systems that partner to support individuals’ needs in their communities.

“CPN has achieved remarkable progress on the Unite Us platform since 2021. With more than 200 programs already available on the network, this is a testament to our community’s unwavering support for one another,” said Alexandra Little, Senior Customer Success Manager at Unite Us. “We take pride in being part of this initiative and look forward to continuing to work together towards building a stronger and more compassionate community.”

Together, the Care Partner Network and Unite Us have securely connected people in need with community-based resources that can otherwise be difficult to navigate. The network provides a central point of contact where health and social service providers can securely access and refer people to needed services while monitoring progress and measuring outcomes.

Through the collaboration between Liberty Utilities and United Way of Southwest Missouri and Southeast Kansas, which manages the Care Partner Network, a family in need of utility assistance and power restoration due to a family member’s oxygen treatment was able to receive help. The family qualified for the Critical Medical Needs Program and their request was fulfilled on the same day of seeking assistance.

Many community-based organizations struggle to meet local needs because social care has been historically undervalued. The Unite Us Platform provides the infrastructure for healthcare providers and community-based organizations to collaborate seamlessly—from connecting individuals to community programs in real-time, drastically reducing referral acceptance time by 74 percent.

“Solving the connection between health outcomes and community support has been a major challenge for many years,” said Jennifer Vanhoose, Director of Care Partner Network. “We’re glad to be a part of this ‘technology-connects-community’ approach to improving health outcomes across the communities we serve. We leverage the knowledge and work of those who endeavored on this task for many years to build a great system for all. Unite Us brings best-in-class technology to our region, and we are excited to be partners.”

In Missouri and Kansas, Unite Us helps connect people to much-needed resources and services, such as assistance with housing, utilities, transportation, food insecurity, and more. Partners in the Care Partner Network are connected through Unite Us’ shared technology platform, which enables them to send and receive electronic referrals, address people’s social needs, and improve health across communities.

Nonprofits, community-based organizations, and other providers who want to connect their clients and patients to The Care Partner Network’s services within Unite Us’ network can reach out to uniteus.com/contact/.