Blatchford says thinking bigger and more disruptively, and harnessing technology will solve housing.

AUSTIN, TX—Homelessness and inadequate housing are not only problems of poverty, but major health issues. Across the country, options for affordable housing are fast dwindling while rates of homelessness rise–a crisis exacerbated by a rapidly expanding health-wealth gap.

A panel discussed this theme, “Housing as Medicine: Can We Afford the Rx?” yesterday at South By Southwest held at the JW Marriott. The panel pondered, in an age where a medical diagnosis can be accessed through an app and vital signs monitored through a wristwatch, how can the industry innovate its way out of the affordable housing and homelessness crisis? These business, healthcare, government and community innovators shared how cities are using data-driven approaches and developing public-private citizen partnerships to implement smart policies.

Speakers included Laurel Blatchford, Enterprise Community Partners president and former HUD chief of staff; Bechara Choucair of Kaiser Permanente, Rosanne Haggerty of Community Solutions, and Bobby Watts of National Health Care for the Homeless Council.