Laura Young

When someone is in the middle of a behavioral health, substance use, or crisis event, “waiting for a bed” can mean waiting for help. Whether that person is sitting in an emergency department, holding in a county jail, or waiting on a mobile crisis team, the delay between identifying the need and finding a placement can be the most dangerous part of their care journey. Yet, even as health systems invest in data infrastructure, real-time visibility into available beds remains one of the biggest...

In the language of interoperability, few terms have achieved buzzword status faster than “closed-loop referral.” It rolls off the tongue easily at conferences and in RFPs — crisp, confident, complete. A referral goes out, an update comes back, and the system hums with continuity. But the reality on the ground, especially in behavioral health and social care, is far messier. At Converge Health, we spend most of our time in that tangle— the last mile  of interoperability where data meets people...

If you’ve been in any interoperability conversation lately, you’ve probably heard the term Health Data Utility  (HDU). It’s the new favorite acronym in health data circles, often paired with big promises about uniting systems, transforming care, and finally solving that persistently elusive data-sharing problem. Before we start ordering HDU logo coffee mugs, let’s pause for a reality check. What exactly is  an HDU — and what isn’t  it? Defining the Utility According to Civitas, “Health Data...