CALIFORNIA AWARDS NEARLY $147 MILL​​ION TO STRENGTHEN COMMUNITY HEALTH SERVICES

SACRAMENTO — The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) today awarded $146.6 million to 133 organizations to support the provision of Enhanced Care Management (ECM) and Community Supports services to Medi-Cal members. These awards are part of the Providing Access and Transforming Health (PATH) Capacity and Infrastructure, Transition, Expansion, and Development (CITED) initiative, designed to help providers strengthen their ability to participate in the Medi-Cal delivery system and provide whole-person care to Californians.
 
“These funds will help local providers build capacity in the Medi-Cal managed care system to expand their services, ensuring Medi-Cal members receive the Enhanced Care Management and Community Supports services they need right in their communities," said DHCS Director Michelle Baass. “We are committed to improving health outcomes by supporting people and organizations on the front lines."

ECM and Community Supports focus on providing personalized care for Medi-Cal members with the highest needs, providing in-person care coordination, housing assistance, and other essential services for eligible members. PATH CITED funds will support these efforts by investing in workforce development, infrastructure, and technology.

CAPACITY FOR ECM AND COMMUNITY SUPPORTS INCREASING​: The latest ECM and Community Supports Quarterly Implementation Report shows an increase in the availability and use of Community Supports, showing significant growth in the number of counties offering these services. As of January 2024, 19 counties across California offered all 14 Community Supports, and all counties offered at least eight Community Supports. About 140,000 unique Medi-Cal members used Community Supports in the first two years of the program, with more than 350,000 total services delivered. ECM participation also grew, with around 96,000 members served in quarter four 2023, a 40 percent increase from the same period in 2022.

"We're very grateful for the funding and support from this initiative. We would not be here without this opportunity," said John Bodtker, California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) Director for California Health Collaborative, a statewide nonprofit serving community members since 1982, which received more than $1.9 million in PATH CITED Round 3 funding. "This funding will help us invest in our workforce and information systems to not only build relationships with nontraditional providers, like food banks and clothing closets, but to also foster relationships with clinical providers to try and identify people experiencing gaps in care."
 
WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT: PATH CITED is helping ECM and Community Supports providers bolster their workforce, invest in infrastructure and information technology systems, and develop their capacity to serve Medi-Cal members. Examples of capacity-building efforts that CITED awardees will undertake include: 

• Building internal infrastructure and staff capacity to better meet member needs and close care gaps in the areas they serve. 
• Implementing new software to help ECM care coordinators with patient care transition, coordination, and care management. 
• Expanding culturally responsive Community Supports to better serve members from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

 
"Thanks to PATH CITED, we've transformed our information technology and workforce capabilities," stated Jeff Little, CEO of Inland Housing Solutions and a previous CITED awardee. “CITED funding has allowed us to evolve into a regional Community Supports leader across San Bernardino and Riverside counties and has been crucial for enhancing our capacity to excel within the Medi-Cal framework."

BIGGER PICTURE: ECM is a statewide Medi-Cal benefit addressing the clinical and non-clinical needs of the highest-need members by building trusting relationships and providing intensive coordination of health and health-related services. Lead care managers meet members where they are—on the street, in a shelter, in their doctor's office, or at home. Through ECM, members can also be connected to Community Supports services to help address their health-related social needs, such as access to healthy foods or safe housing to help with recovery from an illness. 

“These investments continue to help local Medi-Cal providers operate within the managed care system by empowering them to build and deliver programs, hire and train specialized staff, invest in information systems, and more. It also underscores our commitment to support sustainable partnerships between managed care plans and community-based providers, and develop a delivery system capable of providing patient-centered, whole-person care," said Susan Philip, Deputy Director for DHCS' Health Care Delivery Systems. “Together, we are driving toward better health outcomes and a more equitable health care delivery system for all Californians."

HOW WE GOT HERE: PATH is a five-year, $1.85 billion initiative launched in 2022 that provides funds for community-based organizations, county agencies, hospitals, tribes, and other community providers to support improved health care management and delivery through the Medi-Cal system.  

Recipients of PATH CITED awards include cities, counties, local governmental agencies, tribal entities, nonprofit community-based organizations, public hospitals, and others. Awardees must be actively contracted to provide ECM/Community Supports or have a signed attestation from a Medi-Cal managed care plan or their subcontractor that they intend to contract with to provide ECM/Community Supports.  

The CITED Round 4 application is expected to open later this year. For more information about the PATH CITED initiative, please visit the PATH website.​