Quality Care Initiatives
Mejorar los resultados de salud para los miembros de Medi-Cal
The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) is committed to achieving excellence in the quality and equity of care for Medi-Cal members. Through broader efforts focused on Medi-Cal Transformation, as well as through the ambitious 2022 Comprehensive Quality Strategy, DHCS outlined a Population Health Management approach grounded in high-quality primary care as well as the 50×2025 Bold Goals Initiative to improve health care outcomes for children’s preventive health, maternity care and birth equity, and behavioral health integration.

Centrar las voces de los miembros
Central to DHCS’ vision for quality and health equity is the belief that Medi-Cal members are at the center of our policy design and programs.
Health Equity Roadmap: The Health Equity Roadmap outlines DHCS’ plan to reduce health disparities by collecting data, identifying care gaps, and creating targeted interventions for high-risk groups. A statewide listening tour gathered member feedback directly from communities experiencing disparities to help shape this roadmap, which aims to build transparency and trust among diverse members.
Comité Asesor de Miembros : In 2023, DHCS launched the Medi-Cal Member Advisory Committee (MMAC), a dedicated forum for Medi-Cal members to provide direct feedback to DHCS’ Director and executive leadership. The committee is composed entirely of Medi-Cal members and family caregivers, ensuring that a diverse range of perspectives is represented.
Mejora de la transparencia y la rendición de cuentas en materia de calidad
Quality Measurement in Behavioral Health: While DHCS has long tracked quality performance for Medi-Cal managed care plans (MCP), starting in 2022, DHCS also established a Behavioral Health Accountability Set (BHAS) to measure clinical quality outcomes in county Behavioral Health Plans.
Transparencia mejorada: En los últimos tres años, el DHCS aumentó significativamente la cantidad de informes públicos sobre los resultados de calidad y equidad en los sistemas e iniciativas de entrega para proporcionar una mayor transparencia y empoderar a los socios para que utilicen los datos para impulsar mejoras. Esto incluye, pero no se limita a:
- Panel de control de CalAIM
- Informe trimestral de administración de atención mejorada/apoyo a la comunidad
- Hojas informativas del conjunto de responsabilidad de la atención administrada
- Hojas informativas del conjunto de responsabilidad de la salud conductual
Sanctions and Accountability: MCPs failing to meet quality standards may face corrective action plans, financial penalties, or even contract termination in severe cases. Sanctions ensure plans prioritize quality care and improve service delivery where necessary. In the last three years, DHCS has strengthened its policy on quality sanctions for both MCPs and Behavioral Health Plans (BHP). Additionally, DHCS levied financial sanctions in 2022, 2023, and 2024 on MCPs that failed to meet DHCS’ target for quality outcomes (national 50th percentile).
Supporting Quality Improvement: DHCS partnered with MCPs on several quality improvement efforts to enhance the care of Medi-Cal members, including:
- Participar en la Colaboración de Aprendizaje de Visitas de Bienestar para Infantes y Niños de los Centros de Servicios de Medicare y Medicaid (CMS).
- Crear nuevas colaboraciones regionales para que todos los MCP discutan las barreras regionales, las disparidades y los posibles socios comunitarios.
- Organizar la Conferencia de Calidad y Equidad en Salud del DHCS en 2023 como un foro para que los planes compartan y establezcan redes de estrategias exitosas en la mejora de la calidad y la equidad.
- Launching two new statewide learning collaboratives in 2024, one focused on improving and scaling children’s preventive services and the other focused on behavioral health integration and improved collaboration between MCPs and county behavioral health plans.
Incentivos financieros para impulsar la calidad y la equidad
Quality Withhold and Incentive Program: In 2024, DHCS implemented a Quality Withhold and Incentive (QWI) program. The program incentivizes MCPs to improve performance on quality metrics that align with the DHCS Comprehensive Quality Strategy and Bold Goals by withholding 0.5% of capitated payments, which can be earned back by meeting performance targets for quality, patient satisfaction, and efficiency.
Auto-Assignment Incentive Program: This program rewards higher performing MCPs in certain counties (with more than one MCP) with a greater percentage of new Medi-Cal members (who do not actively choose a MCP). In 2024, DHCS revised this long-standing Auto-Assignment Program to focus solely on MCP performance on select quality measures aligned with its Comprehensive Quality Strategy and Bold Goals.
Primary Care Spending and Alternative Payment Models: Starting in 2024, all MCPs are required to report to DHCS on what percentage of their spending is going toward primary care and how they are using alternative payment models with providers to reward quality and equity. DHCS worked with key state partners, including Covered California and CalPERS, to align these contract requirements across public purchasers.
Equity and Practice Transformation Payments: In 2024, DHCS launched the Equity and Practice Transformation Payment Program, a $140 million investment in primary care practices to advance health equity and reduce disparities by working on upstream care models, improving quality of care, value-based payment models, and practice transformation.
Invertir en las comunidades
Reinversiones comunitarias de MCP: A partir de 2024, todos los MCP que obtengan ganancias deben reinvertir entre el 7.5 y el 15% de esas ganancias en actividades de reinversión comunitaria informadas y guiadas por las necesidades de la comunidad local.
California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM): CalAIM seeks to improve care for Medi-Cal members through Enhanced Care Management and Community Supports services, like housing navigation, medically tailored meals, and recovery housing, as alternatives to traditional medical services.
Behavioral Health Services: DHCS has significantly increased investments to expand telehealth, integrate behavioral health with primary care, and support the Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program (BHCIP) to build new treatment and community-based facilities.
- Las iniciativas de BH-CONNECT y Transformación de la Salud Conductual están mejorando el acceso a la atención proporcionando servicios coordinados de divulgación, navegación y participación a personas que necesitan apoyo en salud mental.