In 2023, the National WIC Association (NWA) launched the WIC Referral and Data Sharing Pilot Program, with the goal of improving WIC referrals and enrollment through streamlined technology and collaboration with healthcare providers. As part of the program, NWA awarded subgrants to two projects-- Lāna’i Community Health Center WIC in Lāna’i City, Hawai’i and the California WIC Association who led pilots at two WIC local agencies in Los Angeles. The subgrantees were chosen for their exemplary healthcare provider partnerships, robust data-sharing systems, and their commitment to developing high-quality data sharing tools.
Building off existing systems utilized by their respective health centers, the two projects piloted enhanced models of WIC-healthcare collaboration. The Lāna’i team embedded a WIC referral into their Electronic Health Record and provided WIC staff with read-only access to clinical data necessary for WIC certification. The California WIC Association project built systematic referral and data sharing capabilities within the regional Health Information Exchange LANES to enhance coordination between two Federally Qualified Health Centers and their associated WIC local agencies: Northeast Valley Health and Watts Healthcare.
Today we are delighted to unveil findings from the projects, including case studies presenting an in-depth look at the referral and data sharing systems implemented and videos from our visits to each site.
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We also added a NEW section to our Healthcare Provider Toolkit describing opportunities for data linkages with healthcare providers, including a special focus on Health Information Exchanges. You can find the complete toolkit here.
This initiative underscores the importance of fostering healthcare partnerships to improve the well-being of WIC participants and streamline processes for families, WIC staff, and healthcare providers. These pilots are part of a growing portfolio of work at NWA around healthcare partnership to enhance WIC enrollment and coordinated care, and are made possible through the support of the Kaiser Permanente National Community Benefit Fund at the East Bay Community Foundation.
Meet the Projects
Lāna’i Community Health Center:
Through this project, LCHC was able to modernize the WIC referral process and improve care coordination between WIC staff and healthcare providers to enhance the nutrition services and care families receive. Cindy Figuerres, the Interim Executive Director of Lāna’i Community Health Center emphasizes the significance of this program for their community, “On Lāna’i, we and the community we serve face unique challenges. We live in a remote location that does not have easy access to specialty healthcare and nutritious food. This pilot program allowed us access to the resources needed to provide healthcare information exchange. We are committed to health equity and that every dollar is maximized to benefit the women, infants, and children who rely on the WIC program.”
By integrating the WIC referral into the EHR and streamlining access to WIC for its patients, LCHC hopes that the new system will have the lasting effect of reducing health disparities 
through increased breastfeeding promotion and positive impacts on maternal and child health outcomes. For a deeper dive into the project, including how the team planned and implemented the new referral and data sharing system, the impact of the project thus far, and where the team is looking next, please see the Lāna’i Case Study.
Site Visit at Lāna’i Community Health Center, June 2024. Pictured from left to right: Chloe Dillaway (NWA), Olivia Pascual (LCHC), Tanisha Magaoay (LCHC), Cindy Figuerres (LCHC), Jared Medeiros (LCHC), and Marie Gualtieri (NWA).
The California WIC Association (CWA) project has provided invaluable insights into utilizing a Health Information Exchange to establish data linkages between WIC agencies and healthcare providers. By streamlining WIC referrals and providing WIC local agencies with access to clinical data necessary for certification, the newly implemented system will enhance access to WIC and healthcare services, ultimately promoting health equity. “Electronic linkages can improve access to WIC, health care and safety net programs, which is one strategy to address equity and inclusion. The goal is to take the burden off patients/participants by providing the ability to provide needed information in simplified ways and reducing redundancies in submitting information, and to streamline the work processes for health care and social service providers,” says Karen Farley from the California WIC Association.
The CWA team along with LANES Health Information Exchange partners hopes to use the learnings gained from these pilots to expand data linkages across other WIC local agencies and health centers. For a more in-depth look at how the project team designed the WIC referral and data exchange system in LANES, considerations made to minimize provider inputs and maximize referrals, and the impacts of the new system so far, please see the Los Angeles Case Study.
Site Visit at Northeast Valley Health WIC, June 2024. Pictured from left to right: Christine Goulet (NEVHC), Michael Deering (LANES), Ali Zadeh (LANES), Joy Ahrens (NEVHC), Chloe Dillaway (NWA), Claudia Ulloa (NEVHC), Jenniffer Duran-West (CWA), Karen Farley (CWA), Stephen Gutierrez (NEVHC), Richard Medina (NEVHC), and Johanna Escalante (NEVHC).
Site visit at Watts Healthcare WIC, June 2024. Pictured 
from left to right: Karen Farley (CWA), Cheyenne Rodriguez (Watts), Michael Deering (LANES), Supapat De Berry (Watts), Ali Zadeh (LANES), Suparb Chiaravanont (Watts), Hector Martinez (Watts), Jenniffer Duran-West (CWA), Marilyn Noguez (Watts), Christine Cho (Watts), Ceping Chao (Kaiser Permanente), Jonathan Horton (Office of Senator Laphonza Butler), and Chloe Dillaway (NWA).
The projects led by Lāna’i Community Health Center and the California WIC Association are a significant step toward improving healthcare access and streamlining services for WIC participants. If you are interested in learning more about the impact of healthcare partnerships in WIC, we invite you to check out this video.