Former DHCS leader Athena Chapman, President of Chapman Consulting, and Chapman's VP Elizabeth Evenson join host Gavin Ward to give an update on Medi-Cal Transformation/CalAIM, including touching on the 2024 annual report recently released by DHCS on Community Supports.
Health Net's Regional Medical Director Dr. Anshul Dixit and Vivant Health's Utilization Management Review Supervisor Kathleen Loredo share how they partner together with Dignity Health's greater Sacramento hospitals, including one recent effort that reduced unnecessary hospital stays by 400 while increasing provider show up rates by 20% after discharge.
Lisa Ramsey, a former Medi-Cal worker who created Medi-Cal Consulting Services, joins the show to share about updates on Medi-Cal eligibility, including reminders about some often misunderstood limits on income requirements.
Chrisina Mills, a leading advocate for the disability community, was recently appointed to serve as the Executive Director for the California Association of Area Agencies on Aging. Christina, who was born with osteogenesis imperfecta (bones can easily break), has led a 25 year career in advocacy for the disabled community and looks forward to supporting older adults with initiatives that often align with both the aging and disability communities.
California Department of Health Care Services' Joanna Allboe joins the show to share about the continued evolution of California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM)/Medi-Cal transformation as well as how managed care organizations (MCOs) will start to be measured in 2025 and beyond.
Cancer Resource Center of the Desert CEO Helen Palomino joins the show and shares how her organization has a large impact on the Mexican American community, majority of whom are on Medi-Cal, in navigating an often complex system in which residents choose to receive care on both sides of the border.
Dora returns to the show to recap Medi-Cal Transformation and the CalAIM initiative in 2024, including what's worked as well as challenges still to overcome in 2025 and beyond. Dora helps lead HC² Strategies, a statewide consultancy/facilitator that helps health plans, community based organizations, as well as other providers of social and medical care come together to create positive outcomes leveraging the new resources available via the CalAIM initiative.
Dr. Jauregui's parents were an inspiration to the work he now does in the Inland Empire, including serving with IEHP and even volunteering as a DJ at various community events. Dr. Jauregui shares about the impact his team has in serving over 1.5M IEHP members and how the Inland Coalition is developing a master plan to be rolled out to the 4.6+M individuals living in the Inland Empire
Disability Right California (DRC) and its 350 employees serve the community of over 10 millions individuals in california with developmental, behavioral, as well as physical health disabilities. Andy Imparato shares about the history of DRC, it's connection to federal efforts, and how he was inspired to get involved and ultimately have a career in serving as a leader in advocating for the rights of individuals with disabilities.
InnovAge leaders Maria and Shadie join host Gavin Ward to give background on InnovAge (including its growth in CA and other states), the "secret" of PACE, and why PACE's growth nationally may not be as rapid as other service types.
John joins the show and shares how he went from thinking he'd be a Summer Camp Director to leading the implementation of California's Data Exchange Framework. He discusses how his role as the Chief Data Officer for CAHHS as well as his Director role for the Center for Data Inisghts and Innovation is to help lead organizaitons, whether healthcare, county, or community based, to share pertinent information to best impact those they care for in California.
California Association of Health Plans (CAHP) President and CEO Charles Bacchi joins host Gavin Ward to discuss CAHP's 2024 Initiatives, upcoming CAHP Conference with over California 1,000 healthcare leaders, and more.
From a small clinic in downtown LA to impacting tens of thousands of lives in California and beyond, Gray shares how Titanium has expanded in scope and location to help the historically underserved access care in meaningful ways through traditional medical services as well as CalAIM funded enhanced care management, community supports, and more.
Colby Takeda, Pear Suite Co-Founder and CEO, shares how his upbringing, including serving in a nursing home as a teenager, was an inspirtation into serving his community and and ultimately becoming a national leader in the community health worker space. Since 2022's approval of the community health worker benefit in California, Colby shares how his tech enabled platform organization, Pear Suite, has helped community based organizations, including a barber shops, become commuinty health worker si...
Beginning no later than 2024, the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) required all Medi-Cal managed care organizations to have a chief health equity officer (CHEO). Valerie shares how BSC Promise Health Plan gave her the opportunity in 2022 to be its first CHEO and some of the progress she's made in her first 18 months.
The California Medical Association has partnered with Health Tech 4 Medicaid (HT4M) at its upcoming 2nd annual CMA HIT Summit, "Health IT In the Safety Net." HT4M's founder Adimika Arthur, whose career has been instrumental in ensuring access to care, joins the show to share the importance of Health IT on health equity and ensuring a safety net for those that may otherwise struggle to get the care they need.
From the highlights and challenges in 2023 to what to expect in 2024 and beyond, Gavin discusses CalAIM with guests Michel Huizar, Branch Chief, DHCS Managed Care Quality and Monitoring Division, and Dora Barilla, Co-Founder, HC² Strategies.
Michael's history with health plans and advocacy played a key role in his recruitment to lead C4A, an organization established to advocate and collaborate on behalf of California's "Triple As." Michael shares how his organization supports older adults throughout the state and what their focus is in 2024 and ahead.
Under the California Department of Health Care Access and Information, Elizabeth shares how the newly created Officer of Healthcare Affordability is helping the most populous state to manage healthcare costs through growth targets and other efforts for 40M Californians.
Over 15M Californians are Medi-Cal beneficiaries, yet there are so many misceptions about Medi-Cal and very few Californians truly understand Medi-Cal eligibility. Lisa shares how she went from an entry level Medi-Cal worker to an expert, where she now leads a team that helps families navigate Medi-Cal, including asset and income limits, or lack thereof.
Beau shares how an initial stint as a temporary worker landed him a role with California's In-Home Supportive Sevices that became a springboard into his career as he ultimately become well versed in California's long term supports (LTSS) and services as well as home and community based services (HCBS). That foundation has helpd Beau become one of Anthem and California's leaders for the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM).
L.A. CARE is one of the largest health plans in CA, serving millions in L.A. County, primarily Medi-Cal beneficiaries. L.A. CARE CMO Dr. Sameer Amin joins host Gavin Ward to share some of the highlights of his first year and what we can expect in 2024 with the state's largest Medi-Cal managed care organization.
Charles joins the show and shares about the latest CAHP initiatives and what to expect at the annual 2023 conference where over 1,000 leaders from DHCS, Health Plans, and providers gather in the desert.
WellSpace Health has been serving the Greater Sacramento area for many decades, and the CalAIM initiative is only going to increase its impact. Wellspace leaders Christie Gonzales and Cordia Losh join the show to share about the impact WellSpace has had in the community and what's to come through the CalAIM initaitive, enhanced care management, and more.
Susan Phillip joins the show to discuss the process and results of DHCS' procurement and results for the 2024 managed care plan contracts. Susan, who serves as DHCS' Deputy Director, Health Care Delivery Systems, shares how she came into the role and what we can expect heading into 2024 and beyond.
Leza joined the show and shares how her passion for older adults has led to her work wtih CCOAin the Golden State. CCOA's latest initiatives include efforts to ensure the aging population has access to legislative meetings as well as a recognized voice and influence into lawmaking.
Health Net's VP of Communications and Marketing joined the show to share how the end of the pandemic and Public Health Emergency (PHE) is making the annual Medi-Cal redetermination of eligibility unlike recent years before as Californians were automatically renewed during the PHE. The state, Health Net, and other Medi-Cal plans are making significant outreach attempts to ensure Medi-Cal beneficiaries know how to renew their eligibility, but 2-3 million Californians are still expected to lose eli...
Dan discusses his journey as the son of immigrant parents that inspired Dan to make a difference in Kern County where he's spent his entire life. From ICU nurse to leading enhanced care management efforts of the 20th largest county in the US, Dan's shares how he's played a role in saving lives both literally and figuratively as he now helps lead enhanced care management efforts in Bakersfield and Kern County.
So many Californians provide care to their loved ones and often don't know where to turn for help and support. Michelle shares how her own journey as a caregiver led to her receiving support from Valley CRC. Now as the Executive Director, Michelle shed lights on how caregiver resource centers throughout the state like hers in the Central Valley region can be a great resource for caregivers.
Dr. Wada returns to PopHealth Podcast to share some of the initial results of IEHP's California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) efforts as well as what's to come next for IEHP, including how the end of the Covid-19 related Public Health Emergency (PHE) may have a significant impact on eligibility for the Medi-Cal population.
