Impact of automated data sharing on hospital communication with child welfare

Children in foster care have poor health compared to children in the general population, in part due to a critical gap in communication and information sharing. In 2018, Cincinnati Children's partnered with Hamilton County Job and Family Services (HCJFS) to develop an automated technology solution (IDENTITY) that links and shares information through a secure, accessible platform. When IDENTITY was used, 91% of healthcare encounters included a contact attempt with child welfare (57% successful), compared to 57% and 50% attempts and successes, respectively, without IDENTITY. IDENTITY is an important tool to increase communication between the healthcare and child welfare systems.