San Juan County commissioners and staff heard a presentation July 15 from the New Mexico Health Care Authority and vendor Find Help about a statewide closed-loop referral platform branded Yes New Mexico Connect. Roberto Martinez, program manager for the health care authority, and Chris Duncan of Find Help demonstrated how the tool lists food, housing and other social services and can transmit electronic referrals to participating organizations.

The platform aims to reduce gaps in service by listing local programs and enabling either a person or a service navigator to send an electronic referral and receive status updates. "The whole goal of this closed loop referral system is to increase access to the existing services for New Mexicans," Martinez said during the presentation.

Why it matters: HCA is funding county and tribal licenses and will provide technical assistance for onboarding community-based organizations, which the presenters said should make it easier for local providers and caseworkers to connect people with resources and to see data about unmet needs.

Presenters said the platform is already live as a minimum viable product on the Yes New Mexico portal and that onboarding for counties, tribes and community organizations is planned to begin in August with ongoing training sessions through March. Chris Duncan, demonstrating the tool, said users can search by ZIP code or service category and that clients and referring organizations can receive text or email links. "We are HIPAA compliant," Duncan said when asked about privacy and security.

Discussion: Commissioners and staff asked about consent, data sharing and who can access referral records. Martinez and Duncan described county-level “coalition sharing” agreements that would define which local organizations can view referral records and said counties would help design those data-sharing arrangements. The presenters said the system includes a data curation team that reviews and updates listings, and users can suggest program additions or corrections through the platform.

Limitations and next steps: The presenters said the platform currently lists free and reduced-cost community programs and does not yet link to individuals’ insurance status, although integrating some HCA data is a longer-term possibility. No formal action was taken; the health care authority asked San Juan County to coordinate with the county manager’s office if the county wishes to adopt the service and accept HCA-supported licenses. Martinez said he would follow up with the county and provide a demo and contact information for local staff.

Officials emphasized that participation is voluntary and that counties control how they use the tool. "We really wanna listen to you all and what makes sense to you all, in the county," Martinez said as he closed the presentation.