California Providers and Health Plans Sign Agreement to Expand Investment in Advanced Primary Care

As part of a new multi-stakeholder initiative led by CQC and the Integrated Healthcare Association (IHA), six health care organizations serving California have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to increase investment in and access to Advanced Primary Care.

• These organizations committed to pursuing the four goals outlined in the MOU through 2025 to accelerate Advanced Primary Care throughout the state and to jointly enable primary care practices to move toward a high-performing, value-based care model, reducing costs and improving health outcomes and equity.
   
• Together, these organizations serve just under 4 million commercial lives in California.

Known as the California Advanced Primary Care Initiative, this first-of-its-kind effort builds on CQC’s nearly two decade-long history of working to strengthen primary care in the Golden State. CQC and IHA will convene payers in early fall to take the next step on the journey to making progress on these commitments to a stronger primary care system and a healthier California.

“This initiative reflects our understanding that the impact of any one payer alone is limited. That’s why Blue Shield is committed to partnering with our peer payers and providers to scale delivery of high-quality primary care across the state. Ultimately, we know this is what is best for our members, and we all must work together to make this vision a reality.”

Peter Long, Executive Vice President of Strategy and Health Solutions at Blue Shield of California

CalHIVE Updates

Choice Medical Group Transforms Telehealth Visits

Participants in CQC's CalHIVE Network have worked to improve virtual care to support chronic disease management based on technical assistance aligned with CQC’s attributes of Advanced Primary Care. Choice Medical Group was recently recognized by its CalHIVE peers for efforts to advance several Advanced Primary Care attributes that included:

• Accessible, by implementing a triage system to direct patients to the right source of care based on their needs while also reflecting the patient’s preference for the type of visit.
   
• Patient & family centered, through removing barriers and improving workflows to support patient participation in telehealth appointments, such as disabling the virtual waiting room based on patient and care team feedback.

What it means: As virtual tools of care are integrated alongside in-person care, organizations can leverage these tools to improve patient experience.

CalHIVE Network In-person Convening 

After shifting to a predominately virtual program since its launch in 2020, the CalHIVE Network hosted its first network-wide convening with participants from all six of the program’s provider organizations in Riverside, California.

• Participants engaged in a storytelling exercise to share their achievements throughout the course of CalHIVE  and developed sustainability plans for their organizations to enable change beyond the program’s end date later this year.
   
• They also engaged with a panel of patient advisors on how to evaluate different approaches to incorporate the patient’s perspective in their quality improvement work. Our thanks to PFCCpartners for supporting this panel discussion.

What’s next: CQC will publish a report on learnings from the program and best practices identified for practices providing virtual care.

Behavioral Health Integration:
Telehealth Promising Practices

CQC hosted a webinar showcasing on-the-ground lessons around behavioral health integration into primary care and opportunities around effective virtual care.

We were joined by Ellie Lopez, director of integrated health services at Borrego Health, and covered:

• What provider organizations can learn about integrating behavioral health into primary care from early adopters.
   
• How to prepare care teams and patients for virtual visits that include behavioral health screenings or treatment.
   
• What you can do to train staff and what adjustments to your current staffing may be needed.

Coming This Fall: Improvement Coaching Workshop

Sponsored by Molina Healthcare

This October, CQC will host our popular Improvement Coaching Workshop in Southern California.

• The two-day training is focused on quality improvement (QI) basics and practice coaching skills. Whether you want to brush up on your QI skills or jump in and build the foundation of your coaching skills, this workshop is for you!

We will share more details in the coming weeks, including registration links and venue information. If this email was forwarded to you and you want to receive more information about our Improvement Coaching Workshop, sign up for our newsletter here.

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