Researchers to Examine Revamp of Public Health

Christina Jewett | California Watch | February 15, 2012

As California continues to forge ahead implementing health reform, state Medi-Cal leaders and UC Davis researchers announced an agreement to examine public health system transformation efforts that may serve as models for the nation. The researchers will evaluate public hospital systems as they revamp daily operations in ways meant to simultaneously reduce health costs and improve patient health.

New programs are taking shape under California’s Medi-Cal “waiver,” a $10 billion program that is part of the state’s effort to prepare for a major influx of beneficiaries who will be covered when the Affordable Care Act expands eligibility in 2014. The waiver was adopted to set aside some federal Medicaid requirements so California can reshape systems, shifting from an emphasis on responding to health crises to preventing them altogether.

The Department of Health Care Services, which operates the Medi-Cal program, last week announced a $4.25 million agreement with the UC Davis Health System’s Institute for Population Health Improvement. The institute will examine how the state’s 17 public hospital systems transform to meet the new goals, an effort that comes with $3.3 billion in federal funding...