Our Partner CAPH

Patients benefit when public health care systems and Medi-Cal managed care plans closely collaborate

A lot is often asked of patients – login to that portal, call this number, now call that one, get to this clinic and that pharmacy.

However, one of the best ways to support patients is for public health care systems and Medi-Cal managed care plans to support each other. When systems and plans join forces and closely coordinate, the quality of patient care improves, and patients’ lives are made easier.

That is the core impetus behind SNI and the Local Health Plans of California (LHPC) Institute launching a new program in 2024 to support greater collaboration between systems and plans. Additionally, the California Department of Health Care Services is increasingly tying financial risk to quality and aligning programs and incentives across systems and plans. The California Health Care Foundation funds this collaboration program.

Throughout 2024, system and plan quality leaders have been convening in person and virtually to strengthen their partnerships. They’ve covered topics such as shared vision, governance, and data sharing, with more to come.

Along the way, we’ve been developing content that we hope systems, plans, and other stakeholders find informational and useful, including:

  • A Q&A with SNI’s executive director Giovanna Giuliani and LHPC’s CEO Linnea Koopmans discussing the work ahead as systems and plans start to learn about each other’s challenges and priorities. They also explore what’s at risk if they don’t collaborate and the potential benefits for patients when they do
  • A reference guide that details promising practices and pilots of system-plan collaboration, the specific external drivers that impact systems and plans, and their overlapping quality measures
  • A “Partnering to Improve Quality of Care” issue brief, providing more context and information about SNI and LHPC Institute’s partnership and why collaboration is essential to improving quality

We look forward to sharing more content with you as our collaborative efforts continue to evolve. Please contact Amanda Clarke if you have any questions.