ACL Challenge Competition: 

Innovative Technology Solutions 

for Social Care Referrals

October 15, 2020
Agenda

Ø Opening Remarks 

Ø Challenge Updates 

Ø Open Referral Initiative 

Ø Registration and Application Platform 

Ø Key Reminders and Resources 

Ø Q&A
Opening Remarks
Establish A Shared Technology 

Infrastructure 

ACL is seeking interoperable technology solutions developed by 

multi - stakeholder teams that: 

• More efficiently share data through standardized, open 

community resource directories to ensure better informed 

decision making 

• Incorporate closed - loop referral protocols to track and 

support individuals when they obtain services from any 

organization or health care provider within the network. 

• Produce data on the individual, organizational, and regional 

levels about referrals, the prevalence of social determinants 

of health, and service utilization and outcomes

4
Challenge Updates
Judging Criteria Updates

• Scalability and Feasibility of Implementation 

– Proposal has robust design and plan for open Application Programming 

Interface (API) standards for existing community resource directories. 

§ Clear technical design of an open API standard for community 

resource directories using the Human Services Data Specifications 

(HSDS) . 

§ The proposed open API standards for community resource 

directories can be easily adopted and implemented by existing and 

new directory platforms. 

§ States and CBOs can easily integrate with the proposed open API 

standards for community resource directories. 

– Inclusive of the Gravity Project identified terminology (LOINC, 

SNOMED - CT, and ICD - 10) and technical standards (HL7 FHIR) to 

represent and exchange SDOH data.

6
Judging Criteria Updates

• Product Functionality and Usability 

– Proposal has broad applicability (i.e., across 

conditions, populations, health IT 

environments/technologies/platforms) 

– Inclusive of planning assessments 

– Look up and retrieval of community resources through 

a standardized community resource directory 

– Closed - loop referral management 

– Analytics and dashboards visuals to track service 

delivery, and outcomes.

7
New Phase 1 Submission 

Guidelines
Project Narrative

• Provide an overview of the design and concept of the 

proposed solution and how it addresses the problem(s) 

described in this Challenge. 

• Describe how the proposed solution brings value to the 

team of stakeholders. (See description of judging criteria 

#1 .) 

• Describe the existing and/or new methods of technologies 

that were used, combined, or built upon to design the 

proposed solution, including how the proposed 

functionalities meet the criteria listed in judging criteria #3 

and #4.

9
Project Narrative (cont.)

• Describe the potential and likelihood for a successful 

demonstration and implementation if the proposed 

solution is selected for proceeding phases of the 

Challenge. 

– Include how the success of the proposed solution will 

address the business and technical risks described in 

judging criteria #5 and how the team defines and 

measures a successful solution . 

• Provide a timeline for getting to a complete solution, 

citing milestones and goals. Consider including key 

points towards a successful solution, such as 

partnerships, technical tasks, and roll out.

10
Team Member Roles

• For each individual, include a description of their 

role and contribution to the team’s solution.

• Team members can include health IT developers, 

health care providers, health plans, state and 

community - based organizations that lead the 

aging and disability networks, including Medicaid 

agencies, and others with relevant technical 

expertise in data standards, architecture, and/or 

data analysis.

11
Appendixes

• Use Case(s) that describe an example of how the proposed 

solution will enable referral solutions that will be 

implemented at the community and/or state level. 

• Technical approach and/or specifications, for the following: 

– Establishing open community resource directories using 

the Human Services Data Specifications (HSDS). 

– Approach for incorporating and standardizing SDOH 

data content using the Gravity Project’s identified 

terminology.

12
Open Referral Initiative
New Solutions for the Resource Referral Problem

@ open_referral 

bloom@openreferral.org | 202.643.3648 | @greggish
Community Resource Directory Data:

WHICHagencies? 

WHATservices? 

WHEREare they located? 

WHEN & HOW are they accessed?
The Human Service Data Specifications:

http://docs.openreferral.org

1. Vocabulary + logic model 

2. Format: CSVs + JSON datapackage 

3. API Protocols (HSDA)
THE HUMAN SERVICES DATA SPECIFICATION: BRIDGING OLD AND NEW
The Big Question:

If resource data is public information, 

and should openly accessible, 

how can we sustain its maintenance?
THREE HYPOTHESIS: CENTRALIZED, FEDERATED, MANDATED REGISTRY

#1: Centralized 

Open Platform

#2: Data Collaborative (a 

network)

#3: Service Registry 

(funder - mandated) 
Model #1: The Data Utility

A referral provider can sustainably publish 

open data as a public good by generating 

revenue for premium services.
Example: The Data Utility

Benefits: 

• One single source of truth for a community. 

• One organization is responsible. 

• Monitor usage to provide data analytics (in future iterations!)

Resource Data As a Service

Fees for Guaranteed Levels of Service
Model #2: The Data Collaborative

A network of referral providers can cooperatively 

maintain and share data, decreasing costs and 

increasing quality.
Example: Benetech’s Service Net
Model #3: The Register

A funder can ensure reliable open resource data 

by requiring grantees and contractors to 

update their own information in a registry.
Example: NYC Mayor’s Office of Opportunity, HHS Accelerator, and open data on every contractor

Mayor’s Office of New York City is publishing data 

on all municipally contracted service providers in 

the standardized Open Referral format on its open 

data portal.

Benefits: 

• Canonical public resource directory record 

• Gov collects limited data (which is out of 

date)... and they might pay for 

enrichment/updating. 

• Gov might pay for traffic / analytics data that 

are interoperable with its own records.
Phase 1 Submission
Challenge Platform

• Register and submit information about your 

team and solution. 

– socialcare.innovationchallenge.com

– Application entry form and resources 

• Team collaboration page: 

– socialcare.innovationchallenge.com/teams

– Collaborate with fellow solvers! 

27
Key Reminders

Ø Applications due Monday, December 14, 2020 

– Register and submit application via 

socialcare.innovationchallenge.com

Ø Up to six winners will be announced in January 2021 

with awards of $30,000 each 

Ø View r esources , FAQs, and past webinar recordings at 

acl.gov/socialcarereferrals

Ø Contact us at: SocialCareChallenge@acl.hhs.gov

28
Questions?

Contact: 

SocialCareChallenge@acl.hhs.gov