About This Article: This guide synthesizes insights from over twenty Coffee & Contracts sessions held between February 2024 and October 2025, supplemented by the Partnership to Align Social Care's contracting resources and frameworks. All examples reflect real situations shared by session participants, with identifying details modified to protect organizational privacy.
Coffee & Contracts represents a transformative approach to building sustainable partnerships between healthcare organizations and community-based organizations (CBOs). This monthly peer learning series, hosted by the Partnership to Align Social Care and Camden Coalition, addresses one of healthcare's most pressing challenges: creating effective contracts that truly integrate social care into health outcomes.
Having worked with dozens of healthcare partnerships over the past three years, I've seen firsthand how poor contracting practices can derail even the most well-intentioned collaborations. Coffee & Contracts fills a critical gap by providing real-world guidance from practitioners who've navigated these complex waters successfully.
The healthcare industry is experiencing a fundamental shift. As value-based care models become standard, healthcare organizations increasingly recognize that social determinants of health—housing stability, food security, transportation access—directly impact patient outcomes and costs. This recognition has created an urgent need for structured partnerships with CBOs and Community Care Hubs (CCHs).
However, traditional healthcare contracting frameworks weren't designed for social care partnerships. CBOs operate under different financial models, compliance requirements, and organizational structures than clinical providers. This mismatch creates friction points that Coffee & Contracts specifically addresses through structured peer learning.
Through dozens of Coffee & Contracts sessions since 2024, several recurring challenges have emerged:
Revenue model complexity remains the top barrier. Many CBOs start with invoice-based billing but need to transition to claims-based systems as partnerships mature. This shift requires new infrastructure, staff training, and risk tolerance that smaller organizations struggle to implement.
Data sharing and security creates significant hurdles. Healthcare organizations operate under strict HIPAA requirements, while CBOs may lack the IT infrastructure for compliant data exchange. Finding middle-ground solutions that protect patient privacy while enabling care coordination requires creative problem-solving.
Compliance program development overwhelms many CBOs entering healthcare contracting. Unlike traditional grant funding, healthcare contracts demand robust compliance frameworks covering billing practices, documentation standards, and quality metrics.
Negotiation power imbalances frequently disadvantage smaller CBOs. When a community organization with a $500,000 annual budget negotiates with a health system managing billions, the power dynamics require careful navigation to ensure fair terms.
Each monthly session follows a structured format designed to maximize peer learning. Sessions typically run 60-90 minutes and include:
Expert-led presentations from practitioners who've successfully implemented specific contracting elements. For example, the October 2025 session "Building Momentum: Securing the Next 'Yes'" featured organizations that successfully expanded their healthcare partnerships beyond pilot programs.
Interactive breakout discussions allow participants to work through real scenarios with peers facing similar challenges. The June 2025 session used a "Choose Your Adventure" format where participants explored different CCH network models based on their organization's specific situation.
Resource sharing provides immediately actionable tools. Sessions regularly feature templates, checklists, and frameworks that participants can adapt for their organizations. The September 2024 compliance session included a comprehensive compliance checklist that's become a go-to resource for new CCHs.
Q&A with subject matter experts enables participants to get specific guidance on their unique situations without waiting for another networking opportunity.
After reviewing recordings and materials from twenty sessions spanning February 2024 through October 2025, several critical insights emerge for organizations navigating healthcare-CBO contracting.
The November 2024 session on achieving financial sustainability revealed that successful CCHs rarely rely on a single payer or contract type. Organizations that thrived maintained portfolios including fee-for-service arrangements, value-based contracts, grant funding, and sometimes even direct community contributions. This diversification protected them when individual contracts faced challenges or payers changed priorities.
One presenter shared how their organization intentionally capped any single payer at 40% of total revenue. When a major managed care contract ended unexpectedly, they had sufficient runway to secure replacement funding without layoffs or service disruptions.
The March 2025 session emphasized starting with thorough market assessment rather than jumping directly to sales conversations. Successful organizations researched local healthcare landscape dynamics including which payers were active, what social services competitors offered, and where gaps existed in current offerings.
This upfront work prevented wasted effort pursuing partnerships that weren't viable. One CCH spent three months researching their market and discovered that while five health systems operated in their region, only two had actual authority to contract for social services—the others routed all such decisions through parent organizations in different states.
Rather than viewing compliance programs as burdensome requirements, leading CCHs positioned compliance excellence as a differentiator. The September 2024 compliance session featured organizations that proactively built robust programs exceeding minimum requirements.
This investment paid dividends during contract negotiations. Healthcare partners conducting due diligence found these organizations already addressed potential concerns, accelerating contracting timelines and sometimes securing better terms based on demonstrated operational maturity.
The May and June 2024 sessions on data sharing and data security revealed stark differences between CCHs that invested in data infrastructure versus those that delayed these investments. Organizations with integrated data systems, secure sharing protocols, and quality reporting capabilities commanded higher reimbursement rates and secured longer contract terms.
Healthcare partners valued the ability to see real-time referral tracking, service completion rates, and outcome metrics. CBOs without these capabilities often got stuck in pilot programs because healthcare partners couldn't validate impact at scale.
The May 2025 session on Community Health Integration and Principal Illness Navigation (CHI/PIN) codes addressed what many consider the most significant development in social care reimbursement. These new billing codes, when properly implemented, enable CBOs to bill directly for community health worker services.
Successful early adopters shared three critical factors:
Staff credentialing requires time and planning. Community health workers need proper certification, and organizations need systems to verify and maintain credentials. Several presenters recommended starting this process six months before planning to bill using CHI/PIN codes.
Workflow redesign proves necessary for most organizations. CHI/PIN billing requires documentation practices more rigorous than traditional case management. Organizations that succeeded built documentation directly into service delivery workflows rather than treating it as a separate administrative task.
Payer education remains necessary. Even with established codes, many payers initially rejected claims because their systems weren't configured properly or staff didn't recognize the codes. Persistent follow-up and clear documentation of code legitimacy eventually resolved these issues, but organizations needed patience and cash reserves to weather initial payment delays.
The February and March 2024 sessions focused on initiating contracting conversations provided practical frameworks still referenced by participants today.
Before scheduling any meetings with potential healthcare partners, successful CBOs completed thorough internal preparation:
Service capacity assessment documenting exactly what services you can deliver, to how many people, with what turnaround times. Healthcare partners need specifics, not aspirational statements about what you could do with more funding.
Outcome tracking systems demonstrating your ability to measure impact. Even if you haven't worked with healthcare previously, showing how you've tracked outcomes for grant funders or other partners builds credibility.
Financial stability evidence including audited financials, reserves information, and existing revenue diversity. Healthcare organizations investing in social care partnerships want assurance you'll remain operational throughout contract terms.
Leadership alignment ensuring your board, executive team, and relevant program directors all support healthcare contracting. Internal disagreements about whether to pursue these partnerships create problems during negotiations.
The April 2024 session on "What to Expect from Negotiations" emphasized that initial conversations set the tone for entire relationships. Effective approaches included:
Leading with community need rather than organizational need. Frame conversations around specific patient populations experiencing poor outcomes due to unmet social needs, backed by data when possible. Healthcare partners respond more positively to mission-aligned problem-solving than to CBOs simply seeking new revenue.
Bringing specific partnership proposals rather than general interest. "We'd like to partner on social needs" lands poorly compared to "We propose addressing transportation barriers for diabetes patients missing appointments by providing rides to your three high-priority clinics."
Acknowledging what you don't know while demonstrating learning commitment. Healthcare executives expect CBOs to need guidance on clinical workflows, compliance requirements, and data systems. Pretending expertise you lack damages credibility more than honest questions do.
Including multiple stakeholders in initial meetings. Bringing both program leadership and someone with contracting or financial expertise (board member, CFO, consultant) demonstrates organizational readiness and enables more productive discussions.
The October 2025 session "Building Momentum: Securing the Next 'Yes'" tackled a challenge many successful pilot programs face: converting initial small-scale success into sustained, scaled partnerships.
Through case studies and participant discussion, several patterns emerged explaining why promising pilots stalled:
Failure to define success metrics upfront. Pilots that didn't establish clear, measurable targets before starting left healthcare partners with no objective basis for expansion decisions. Subjective assessments like "seems to be going well" rarely justify budget increases.
Champion dependence. When pilots succeeded primarily due to one passionate healthcare executive's advocacy, that individual's departure often killed expansion plans. Successful conversions built support across multiple departments and leadership levels.
Insufficient cost-effectiveness data. Healthcare financial teams need clear return-on-investment analysis. Pilots that demonstrated improved outcomes but couldn't show cost savings or revenue protection struggled to secure ongoing funding.
Technology integration delays. Pilots often use manual workarounds for data sharing and workflow coordination. If these workarounds don't transition to sustainable technical solutions before pilot funding ends, scaling becomes impractical.
Organizations that successfully converted pilots to sustained partnerships implemented specific strategies:
Building formal governance structures. The January 2024 session on Joint Operating Committees showed how regular structured meetings between CBO and healthcare leadership kept partnerships aligned and accountable beyond individual champions.
Demonstrating cost impact throughout pilot period. Rather than waiting until pilot end to share results, successful CBOs provided quarterly updates showing emerging cost trends, patient satisfaction improvements, and utilization pattern changes.
Proposing clear expansion pathways. Instead of assuming healthcare partners would naturally expand successful pilots, top performers presented specific expansion proposals with defined phases, resource requirements, and projected impacts.
Maintaining alternative partnership conversations. Organizations that appeared exclusively dependent on single healthcare partnerships had less negotiating power. Those simultaneously developing relationships with multiple potential partners secured better expansion terms.
The August 2024 session provided detailed guidance on contract review, drawing on real contract examples with sensitive information redacted.
Experienced CCH leaders identified specific contract provisions that consistently cause problems:
Unlimited liability clauses exposing CBOs to financial risk far exceeding contract value. Standard language should cap liability at contract amount or organization's insurance coverage, whichever is less.
Unilateral termination rights allowing healthcare partners to end contracts with minimal notice while CBOs face substantial termination penalties. Balanced contracts provide symmetrical termination provisions or adequate notice periods for both parties.
Intellectual property overreach claiming healthcare partner ownership of any materials, methods, or tools developed during the contract. CBOs should retain ownership of pre-existing intellectual property and materials developed independently of contract work.
Indemnification requirements that hold CBOs responsible for healthcare partner's mistakes. Indemnification should be mutual and limited to each party's actual actions, not everything that occurs during the partnership.
Performance metrics without baseline establishment. Contracts demanding specific outcome improvements without first measuring current state set CBOs up for failure. Insist on baseline measurement periods before performance metrics take effect.
Beyond problematic provisions, experienced negotiators identified elements worth discussing even in reasonable contracts:
Payment timing. Monthly advance payments provide better cash flow than quarterly arrears payments. For organizations with limited reserves, payment timing can determine financial viability.
Scope modification processes. Clear procedures for adjusting service scope when community needs change prevent disputes and enable adaptation without full contract renegotiation.
Data ownership and usage rights. Specify who owns collected data, how both parties may use it, and what permissions are needed for publication or sharing with third parties.
Renewal processes. Automatic renewal with opt-out provisions provide more stability than contracts requiring affirmative renewal negotiation annually.
The February 2025 session explored one of the most significant operational transitions CCHs face: moving from invoice-based billing to claims-based systems.
Healthcare organizations, particularly managed care plans, strongly prefer claims-based billing for several reasons:
System integration. Claims flow through existing adjudication infrastructure, enabling automated processing and integration with quality reporting systems. Invoices require manual handling, increasing administrative costs and error rates.
Compliance and audit requirements. Claims-based systems generate audit trails meeting regulatory standards, while invoice-based approaches require separate documentation systems.
Risk arrangement participation. Value-based contracts and shared savings arrangements typically require claims-based billing to properly attribute costs and calculate shared savings.
Successful transitions required substantial organizational preparation:
Billing system investment. Claims submission requires specialized software and often integration with clearinghouses. Organizations underestimated both initial costs (typically $15,000-$50,000) and ongoing expenses (often $500-$2,000 monthly).
Staff training and potential new hires. Submitting clean claims consistently requires expertise few CBOs possess organically. Most successful organizations either hired experienced medical billers or contracted with billing services during transition periods.
Cash flow bridge planning. Claims-based billing creates longer payment cycles than invoicing. Organizations needed 60-90 days of operating reserves to bridge the gap between transitioning from invoice payments and receiving consistent claims payments.
Denial management processes. Unlike invoices that generally get paid or require clarification, claims get denied frequently. Establishing systematic approaches to identifying denial reasons, correcting issues, and resubmitting claims proved essential.
Beyond attending live sessions, participants gain access to extensive resource libraries documenting best practices and providing actionable tools.
Based on participant feedback and download statistics, certain resources proved particularly valuable:
The Partners in Care Foundation Contract Terms Worksheet from the August 2024 session provides a systematic framework for evaluating contract provisions. This single tool helps organizations identify problematic clauses before engaging expensive legal review.
The Compliance Checklist from September 2024 offers a comprehensive roadmap for building healthcare compliance programs. Organizations using this checklist report saving significant time and avoiding common compliance program gaps.
The Guide to Evaluating Revenue Opportunities for CCHs from February 2025 helps organizations systematically assess potential contracts using consistent criteria. This prevents pursuing partnerships that look attractive initially but don't align with organizational capabilities or strategic direction.
Session recordings and slide decks remain available for all past sessions. Many participants report reviewing specific sessions multiple times as they reach relevant stages in their own contracting journeys.
This series delivers maximum value for specific organizational profiles:
CBOs exploring healthcare contracting find the foundational sessions (preparing to approach contracting, starting contracting conversations) provide essential frameworks before making expensive mistakes or damaging potential partnerships through premature outreach.
CCHs in early contract stages benefit from sessions on compliance, data infrastructure, and contract vetting. These topics become critically important once initial partnerships emerge but before organizations have established mature practices.
Established CCHs seeking to scale gain insights from sessions on revenue model transitions, financial sustainability, and building momentum beyond pilots. These advanced topics help mature organizations navigate growth challenges.
Healthcare organization business development staff increasingly attend to better understand CBO perspectives and identify partnership opportunities. The peer learning format exposes them to CBO challenges they might not encounter in typical healthcare-centric professional development.
Funders and policymakers participate to understand ground-level implementation challenges and identify where policy changes or funding could remove barriers to effective partnerships.
Regular participants who've seen the greatest benefit from Coffee & Contracts share several common practices:
Attending consistently rather than cherry-picking topics. While individual session topics vary, the cumulative learning from regular participation exceeds isolated session benefits. Recurring participants also build peer networks that provide value beyond formal sessions.
Preparing questions beforehand. Reviewing session descriptions and materials before attending enables more focused questions during Q&A periods. Generic questions get generic responses; specific questions tailored to your situation generate actionable guidance.
Implementing insights quickly. The momentum from attending sessions dissipates rapidly. Organizations that block time immediately after sessions to implement key takeaways report better results than those planning to "get to it eventually."
Connecting with presenters afterward. Many presenters offer to connect with participants facing similar challenges. Taking them up on these offers creates mentorship relationships that extend beyond formal sessions.
Sharing learnings with organizational leadership. CBOs where multiple staff or board members review session materials make better strategic decisions than those where knowledge stays siloed with individual attendees.
Coffee & Contracts continues in 2025 with sessions addressing emerging topics in healthcare-CBO contracting.
Registration requires signing up through the Zoom webinar link provided on the Partnership to Align Social Care website. Note that 2025 registration is separate from 2024—previous participants need to re-register.
The series remains free to participants, supported by the Partnership to Align Social Care's funding. This removes financial barriers that prevent many smaller CBOs from accessing similar professional development through commercial conferences or training programs.
Between scheduled sessions, the Partnership to Align Social Care maintains additional contracting resources through their Contracting Toolkit, which includes templates, guides, and case studies complementing Coffee & Contracts session content.
As value-based care models mature and healthcare organizations face increasing accountability for total population health, partnerships with CBOs and CCHs will transition from innovative pilot programs to standard care delivery infrastructure.
Coffee & Contracts plays a critical role in this transition by accelerating the learning curve for organizations on both sides. Rather than each organization independently solving the same contracting challenges through expensive trial and error, the peer learning model enables collective problem-solving.
The sessions scheduled for late 2025 and beyond increasingly focus on advanced topics like CCH governance structures and network models, reflecting the field's maturation. This evolution suggests that early movers who build contracting expertise now will have significant advantages as healthcare-CBO partnerships become standard practice.
For organizations serious about integrating social care into healthcare delivery, Coffee & Contracts represents an accessible entry point into this complex but rewarding work. The combination of expert guidance, peer support, and practical resources addresses the most common barriers facing organizations attempting to navigate healthcare contracting independently.
Whether you're a CBO taking your first steps toward healthcare partnerships or an established CCH seeking to optimize existing contracts, the structured learning and community connections available through Coffee & Contracts can accelerate your progress while helping you avoid costly mistakes that have derailed less-prepared organizations.
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