NewWave Announces Creation of SAFFRON Labs to Address Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Data Interoperability

NewWave Technologies announces the opening of SAFFRON Labs, an Incubation Hub that will support the creation of the technical capability for a secure consumer- and community-centric, open, interoperable SDOH data ecosystem.

SAFFRON Labs will build a modular SDOH Platform to help provide for the (1) Standardization of SDOH data collection and (2) build a sustainable, modern technical infrastructure for interoperability between health care entities and community-based organizations (CBOs) including federal and state benefit programs. The Lab's initial focus will be on the accurate collection and interoperability of data for a patient's race, ethnicity, language, sexual orientation and gender identity.

"There is universal acknowledgement of the need to bring SDOH into how we care for people and what we pay for in healthcare," says Aaron Seib, Sr. Vice President for Strategy & Innovation at NewWave and Director of SAFFRON Labs. "We want to build the infrastructure for this paradigm shift in healthcare toward equity and better care."

SAFFRON Labs will leverage the technology and experience of the award-winning interoperability SAFHIR platform of Newwave's sister company Onyx. SAFFRON will provide a software-as-a service product offering that will support SDOH interoperability for federal, state, local governments and for private sector healthcare providers.

SAFFRON Labs will also providing leadership to HL7's Gravity Project and supports the CMS Center for Innovation's (CMMI) "5 Strategic Objectives for Advancing System Transformation" and its goal of building a "health system that achieves equitable outcomes through high quality, affordable, person-centered care."

"SDOH is part of the promise that health data interoperability allows," says Patrick Munis, CEO of Newwave. "The question is how do we add value to our emergent interoperability. SAFFRON Labs will help build the technology for genuine person-centered care."

About NewWave

Newwave Telecom and Technologies, Inc. is a Healthcare IT Solutions Firm headquartered in Elkridge, Maryland with locations across the U.S. Our people merge innovation, creativity and compassion, empowering our clients to use technology in new ways as they solve problems for the greater good. For more information, please visit https://newwave.io/.