Healthcare Interoperability Isn’t Enough, Says wellconnected CEO

But for someone trying to maintain housing, access food, find transportation, navigate behavioral health services, or understand where to turn next, the systems around them are still often disconnected.

"We’ve spent years improving the way clinical information moves between healthcare organizations," said Duane Conners, CEO at wellconnected. "That work matters."

Conners said health care, housing, 211, HMIS, human services, and community-based organizations may all be supporting the same person — but too often they are working from different information and different workflows.

He and wellconnected, through the Buffalo company's allco platform, are proving the next phase of interoperability has to go beyond moving clinical data.

It has to connect the community around the person.

Conners said that means being able to:

• connect health and social care information appropriately

• coordinate services across organizations (with consent)

• understand whether help was actually received

Conners will share the answers during a panel at Civitas 2026. The event focuses on Housing, Health, and Data in Action.

Conners will speak about what it takes to bring HIE, CIE, HMIS, housing, and human services together in a practical way.

He'll also asked those assembled: what is the biggest gap community builders still need to solve before they can truly say their communities are interoperable?