Partnership HealthPlan of California’s (PHC) mission is to help our members, and the communities we serve, be healthy. Our organization is committed to inclusiveness and respecting the diverse needs of our employees, as well as our members who we serve each day.
PHC has been committed to addressing the disparate needs of our members since its inception. As a County Organized HealthSystem, or COHS Plan, we are governed by a Board of Commissioners (Board) and charged with the responsibility of providing Medi-Cal (Medicaid) benefits to members across 14 counties in Northern California. This includes timely, holistic health care and access to providers and services that support all members throughout the various stages of their lives. The Board also provides oversight and guidance to the work that PHC performs and provides recommendations and insights on ways that we can continue to direct resources to best support the overarching needs of our members.In recent years, PHC has made considerable inroads in removing member barriers to care. In 2018, PHC provided over $25million dollars in funding to address social determinants of health related to homelessness, substance use, and poverty. This included the support of Davis Community Meals and Housing in the provision of housing and services to the homeless.
PHC partners with community based organizations to address the following:
- Continuity of care for those transitioning from incarceration back to the community for former inmates with chronic conditions
- Connections to social services for homeless members
- Support to organizations helping community members suffering from chronic inebriation to help break the cycle of addiction and support community safety.
In 2019, PHC formed a Health Equity Team Goal group to support standing work related to an annual population needs assessment of the PHC population and to lay the groundwork for the creation of a comprehensive strategy for health equity across our organization. Core activities of the goal team include:
- Development of a consensus definition of health equity
- Creation of a repository of health equity resources
- Collection of information for a health equity toolbox, and
- Administration of a health equity workforce survey and the consolidation of recommendations and action items.
The team has been able to foster greater dialogue about health equity across the organization. This includes the initiation of anAnnual Health Equity week and sessions with speakers including those from the Health Equity for African American / Black Lives(HEAL). As a result, PHC has broadened the scope of diversity training at PHC has also taken steps to promote practices for gender neutrality, including revision of forms and policies and procedures and awareness of challenges for our LGBTQ+ health plan members and staff.
We are currently in the midst of instituting a Performance Improvement Project with one of our provider partners to encourage increased completion of well-baby visits in the first 15 months of life for our Hispanic and Latino members. It follows guidelines for assessing small tests of change set by the California Department of Health Care Services.