Clinical improvement, innovation and integration

CCHE partnered with the California Health Care Foundation to create an evaluation toolkit for tech partners who are interested in partnering with healthcare organizations to pilot and evaluate new services and products. Evaluation is a powerful tool for digital health companies to demonstrate impact, enhance program design, and strengthen their value proposition for fundraising and sales efforts. The goal is to provide a structured approach to evaluation with special attention to health equity and Medicaid populations. The toolkit includes evaluation fundamentals, suggested structure to build one’s own evaluation, and tools and resources for conducting an evaluation.

CCHE recently worked with the California Health Care Foundation to produce this report: Telehealth Evolution in California Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities. It traces telehealth’s history in California and lays out a roadmap for continued progress. To create the report, our team analyzed dozens of research studies and interviewed key players in California. California has made significant strides in telehealth since the COVID-19 pandemic, and patients generally report high satisfaction with digital or hybrid care. While telehealth has advanced health equity, disparities remain for Medicaid patients, speakers of languages other than English speakers, and rural residents. Our roadmap offers recommendations for policymakers, health system leaders, providers, health plans, and researchers to continue to center equitable access to care in their telehealth efforts.

According to the CDC, Black and African American birthing people are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related issue than their white counterparts. The fragmented nature of care further worsens difficulties addressing disparities.

Colorectal cancer is the second most deadly type of cancer in the United States, according to the National Cancer Institute. However, colorectal cancer is also highly preventable with regular screening, and if the cancer is caught early and hasn’t spread, survival rates are high.

In the US, residents report broad access to firearms. Over half of firearm deaths in 2020 were by suicide. Most people who attempt suicide with firearms do not survive. While routine suicide prevention practices are becoming more common during health care visits, like screening for depression and suicidal thoughts, questions about firearm access remain uncommon.

Both patients and clinicians said in interviews that a standardized question about access to firearms during a health screening was valuable, according to a new study.