News

Local Providers Learn Best Operational Practices to Ramp Up CalAIM Programming Effectively thanks to Webinar Hosted by Health Net

Date: 08/17/22

As one of the state's most experienced Medi-Cal partners, Health Net was an early adopter of CalAIM, which launched in January 2022. In fact, we recently passed the six-month mark of Phase One of CalAIM and we've learned a lot along the way. We wanted to share that knowledge with stakeholders across California so we're all more successful in the long run. That's why Health Net collaborated with three of our local providers to host a webinar in July, "Leveraging CalAIM Through Partnerships with CBOs to Advance Health Equity."

The panel brought together representatives from community-based organizations (CBOs) across the state to focus on the launch of Community Supports – a core component of CalAIM designed to address social determinants of health and promote better health outcomes among our most vulnerable populations.

Health Net's Chief Health Equity Officer, Dr. Pooja Mittal, was joined by representatives from partner CBOs, including:

• Anwar Zoueihid, Vice President of Long-Term Services & Supports, Partners in Care Foundation
• Kevin D. Hamilton, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director, Central California Asthma Collaborative (CCAC)
• Makesha Satterwhite, Director, Step Up on Second - Inland Empire
  

Participants discussed how Community Supports are improving care for Medi-Cal patients in the vulnerable California communities they serve. Community Supports address social drivers, which have not historically been covered by Medi-Cal. These include, but are not limited to, housing supports, medically tailored meals, asthma remediation and more. Panelists shared their various experiences with attendees.

"CalAIM and Community Supports have really provided the opportunity for our organization to focus on factors in individual's lives that directly influence their health," said Makesha Satterwhite, Director at Step Up on Second. "And it's so far been extremely successful. With Community Supports, we're able to provide the services our patients need directly."

CCAC has had the same experience, finding that they're now able to provide more extensive support to the community members they serve.

"Asthma rates in the Central Valley average about one in five with current asthma," said Kevin D. Hamilton, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of CCAC. "With the support of CalAIM, now I can put an air purifier in an asthmatic's home. I can get somebody to come out and fix their air conditioning unit so we can put a new filter in it and make it safer for them to breathe."

Panelists also highlighted the difference in timeliness that they've seen through CalAIM and Community Supports.

"In just a few months of operationalizing these programs, we've already noticed major improvements in timely participant service intervention results," said Anwar Zoueihid, Vice President of Long-Term Services & Supports at Partners in Care Foundation. "Especially for people with chronic conditions, by separating these Community Support services, we have noticed that what used to take two to three months to resolve is now literally taking one to three weeks. That's a huge difference, and we've only just begun."

You can watch the full webinar on our YouTube channel. To learn more about CalAIM and Community Supports, read Health Net's latest report (PDF) that details initial lessons learned and recommendations.