Care Redesign

Patients who rely on California’s public health care systems often need care that extends beyond a single visit, service, or setting. They may require help getting into care, moving between care teams, and staying connected over time. They may also benefit from tailored support that reflects their comprehensive medical, behavioral health, social, and functional needs. 

Through care redesign, systems build on their safety-net experience to make care more responsive and easier for patients to navigate. Systems do this by changing workflows, strengthening care team roles, improving follow-up, and building partnerships that help patients get the right support at the right time. 

These efforts are especially important for patients whose needs change across life stages, including pregnant and postpartum patients, babies, young children, and older adults. 

Maternal and child health 

Pregnant and postpartum patients, newborns, and young children need care that is accessible, timely, and connected at critical points in their lives. That care can affect their health now and for years to come. 

Yet many mothers, babies, and young children experience gaps in care during these periods. Barriers to access, coordination, and follow-up can keep families from receiving services and contribute to disparities in maternal and infant outcomes. These disparities remain a persistent challenge across California. 

Public health care systems already care for many patients and families who rely on Medi-Cal and the safety net. Medi-Cal covers about 4 in 10 births in California, underscoring the importance of this work for SNI’s members.  

By redesigning services around the patient journey, systems are working to help families receive support sooner and experience more seamless care. 

How SNI supports member systems’ care redesign for maternal and child health  

SNI helps member systems identify and apply care redesign strategies to improve maternity care, birth equity, and children’s health. Examples include outreach models that help patients complete postpartum visits and walk-in clinics that make pediatric vaccines easier to access.  

SNI enables systems to learn from these examples by bringing them together with peers and subject matter experts through in-person convenings and virtual learning sessions. In these spaces, systems share how they are addressing common barriers to care. They also explore how promising strategies can be adapted for their own patients, communities, and care settings.

Areas of SNI support include helping systems: 

  • Improve timely access to prenatal and postpartum care 
  • Strengthen follow-up and outreach for mothers, babies, and young children 
  • Expand patient-centered care models, including centering pregnancy/group prenatal care and caring for moms and babies together (i.e., dyadic care) 
  • Build perinatal workforce capacity, including support for midwifery and doula services 
  • Tailor care for high-risk pregnant and postpartum patients with complex medical, behavioral health, and social needs 
  • Strengthen children’s preventive care, including well-child visits and immunizations 

Older adults  

One in four Californians will be age 60 or older by 2030. By then, the majority of this population will be people of color, and more than a quarter will identify as Latino. 

Public health care systems already care for the medical, behavioral health, and social needs of many diverse older adults. Those needs can be even greater for people dually eligible for Medicare and Medi-Cal. Compared with Medicare-only beneficiaries, these adults often have higher rates of chronic conditions, cognitive impairments such as dementia, mental health needs, and physical disabilities. 

As the number of dually eligible older adults grows, the need for tailored, highly coordinated care has become more urgent. Public health care systems are well positioned to respond because of their deep experience and expertise caring for patients who manage multiple complex conditions and face barriers to care.  

Today, systems are building on that foundation through care redesign. They are improving how care is accessed, organized, coordinated, and followed up. 

For older adults, these improvements make it easier to manage chronic conditions, move safely between care teams and settings, and connect to timely services and supports that help them stay healthy. 

How SNI supports member systems’ care redesign for older adults 

SNI helps member systems redesign care for older adults so they can improve quality and make the health system easier to navigate for this growing population. This work strengthens the clinical, operational, and financial capabilities systems need to serve more older adults effectively. 

SNI delivers this work by bringing systems together with peers and subject matter experts in learning sessions. We guide them through an organizational assessment and priority-setting process and provide coaching and tools. These activities help systems move from planning to action and apply strategies in ways that fit their needs. 

We support systems to: 

  • Assess services for older adults who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medi-Cal and identify care gaps 
  • Align Medicare and Medi-Cal quality improvement efforts to strengthen care for older adults across settings 
  • Improve transitions for patients moving across care settings, including post-hospital discharge placement  
  • Establish and expand partnerships with home- and community-based organizations 
  • Strengthen clinical care teams and workflows, including documentation and coding 
  • Identify and improve Medicare finances through smart contracting and revenue capture