加州拨款近 1.47 亿美元加强社区卫生服务

资金将帮助 Medi-Cal 提供商增加成员社区的容量——为他们居住的地方提供面对面的护理  

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.

“这笔资金将帮助当地服务提供商提升Medi-Cal管理式医疗体系的能力，从而扩大服务范围，确保Medi-Cal参保人能够在所在社区获得所需的‘强化护理管理’和‘社区支持’服务，”加州卫生与临床服务部（DHCS）主任米歇尔·巴斯表示。“我们致力于通过支持一线人员和组织，来改善健康状况。”

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: 

• 建设内部基础设施和员工能力，以更好地满足会员需求并缩小他们服务区域的护理差距。
• 实施新软件来帮助 ECM 护理协调员进行患者护理转变、协调和护理管理。
• 扩大文化响应的社区支持，以便更好地服务来自不同语言和文化背景的成员。

“得益于PATH CITED项目，我们成功提升了信息技术和员工队伍的能力，”Inland Housing Solutions首席执行官、曾获CITED奖项的杰夫·利特尔表示。“CITED 项目的资金支持使我们得以发展成为圣贝纳迪诺县和里弗赛德县地区的社区支持领域领军者，这对提升我们在 Medi-Cal 框架内发挥卓越作用的能力至关重要。”

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.  

CITED第四轮申请预计将于今年晚些时候开放。有关 PATH CITED 计划的更多信息，请访问PATH 网站。