Dear CIN Colleagues,

As we say goodbye to summer and come to terms with pumpkin-spiced everything, we return to focus on our work to advance health equity for Californians.

This means launching the next cycle of CIN, which will support the future state of health care in California by bringing together health care organizations (HCOs), such as providers, payers, and supporters, with community-based organizations (CBOs) that provide nutrition, housing, legal, and other services. Below are resources to support such partnerships, as well as related information on CalAIM efforts.

CIN’s recent call for partner recruitment resulted in interest from over 60 organizations for just 20 spots! We will be requesting full applications very soon from the organizations that together balance and align with the goals for the new cycle.

CIN’s general events and resources will continue to be free and open to all. Please take a moment to share this link with colleagues and encourage them to sign up now.

Apply by Nov. 10 for $15,000 Telehealth Improvement Grants

During the COVID-19 pandemic, safety-net providers significantly increased access to care through telehealth visits, many of which were audio-only. New grant funding will help providers expand access to video visits, particularly for people who have experienced economic disparities, housing and food insecurity, institutional discrimination, or violence. The Center for Care Innovations (CCI), a CIN partner, is offering $15,000 grants, access to tools and resources, and peer support.

Video visits have the potential to overcome barriers to health care, but expansion efforts must ensure inclusion of patients facing poverty, older adults, and those who primarily speak languages other than English.

Focus on CalAIM: Resources from the California Health Care Foundation

CalAIM (California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal) is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve care and outcomes for 14 million Medi-Cal enrollees. It’s a complicated task, given the incredible scope and reach and the fragmented system that it strives to improve. Over five years, CalAIM will introduce myriad new programs and make important reforms to many existing programs.

The California Health Care Foundation offers a collection of tools and resources aimed at helping organizations understand and implement CalAIM. The collection includes an explainer series and content focused on behavioral health, homelessness, seniors and people with disabilities, the workforce, and data exchange.

Also be sure to sign up for CHCF's “Focus on CalAIM” monthly digest email.

To get grounded in the basics of the role of community-based organizations (CBOs) in CalAIM, the three main service models, key partnership considerations for health care organizations and CBOs, the 14 approved community-support services under CalAIM, and more, check out a new fact sheet from Insure the Uninsured Project (ITUP).

Successful collaboration among Medi-Cal managed care plans (MCPs) and community-based organizations (CBOs) will be key to advancing the ambitious objectives of CalAIM. Such collaborations will bring challenges for organizations already spread thin during the pandemic.

Creating and leveraging networks of CBOs — groups of CBOs led by a network lead entity, or neutral convener, for the purpose of contracting with a health care organization — may help. A new brief from the California Health Care Foundation explains the roles, opportunities, and challenges that CBO networks present in the context of CalAIM. It outlines seven considerations for the potential use of CBO networks, including the potential benefits and hurdles from the perspective of CBOs and MCPs.

CalAIM will help improve individuals’ health outcomes by covering services outside the walls of hospitals and community clinics. DHCS is launching regional collaborative planning groups to help identify and resolve local CalAIM implementation issues and inform how funding initiatives can support program implementation to ultimately improve population health. These groups will be comprised of individuals representing MCPs, providers, health sector community-based organizations, city and county agencies, public hospitals, Medi-Cal Tribal and Designees of Indian Health Programs, and others.

The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) has launched participant registration for the Providing Access and Transforming Health (PATH) Collaborative Planning and Implementation initiative. Eligible entities can register now to participate in a collaborative planning group in their region.

Also, read how a Sacramento-based CBO is getting funding for black mold remediation in the homes of clients who are wrestling with asthma.

Medical-legal partnership (MLP) leverages legal services and expertise in health care settings to address structural problems at the root of so many health inequities. A 2020 toolkit from the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership (NCMLP) provided the health center community with information and resources to start, strengthen, and sustain a medical-legal partnership.

Now NCMLP has launched a webinar series based on the Health Center Toolkit to provide the core components of MLP and the advanced application of medical-legal partnership planning, implementation, and growth for health center patient populations.