California has the highest number of people experiencing homelessness in the nation. Health care providers and managed care plans throughout the state have been employing new strategies to support this population. This includes strong cross-sector partnerships — involving public and private partners — that offer a critical way to support the health and social needs of people experiencing homelessness.
This webinar highlighted two California-based, cross-sector initiatives focused on improving health care for people experiencing homelessness by meeting the population where they are. Illumination Foundation and Molina Healthcare are partnering to improve care for people experiencing homelessness through medical respite care. The San Diego Regional Task Force on Homelessness and 211 San Diego are working together to leverage an integrated data exchange to connect partners working to improve care for people experiencing homelessness. Lessons from these efforts can inform health care provider organizations, health plans, and community-based organizations across the country seeking to advance health care for people experiencing homelessness in their own states.
This webinar draws from the California Health Care and Homelessness Learning Community, a Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) initiative, supported by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), which brought together California-based health care providers, payers, and other key stakeholders to share best practices related to health care for people experiencing homelessness.
See also a set of related resources curated by event speakers and CHCS.
Agenda
I. Welcome and Introduction
Speakers: Meryl Schulman, MPH, Senior Program Officer, CHCS and Michelle Schneidermann, MD, Director of People-Centered Care, CHCF
M. Schulman welcomed participants to the webinar. She described the importance of cross-sector partnerships for advancing health care for people experiencing homelessness, and summarized the California Health Care and Homelessness Learning Community and a new initiative, Partnerships for Action: California Health Care & Homelessness Learning Collaborative. M. Schneidermann described CHCF’s interest and activities related to improving health for populations experiencing homelessness.
II. Coordinating Care for People Experiencing Homelessness in a Medical Respite Program
Speakers: Pooja Bhalla, DNP, RN, Executive Director of Healthcare Services, Illumination Foundation and Hannah Kim, Director of Healthcare Services, Molina Healthcare
P. Bhalla and H. Kim described how Illumination Foundation, a provider organization serving people experiencing homelessness, and Molina Healthcare, a managed care plan, are partnering to coordinate and improve health care for people within a medical respite program. They shared challenges, lessons, and future opportunities with the rollout of CalAIM, a comprehensive multiyear plan to transform California’s Medi-Cal (Medicaid) program.
III. Using a Community Information Exchange to Connect Health Care and Homeless Partners
Speakers: Camey Christenson, Chief Business Development Officer, 211 San Diego and Tamera Kohler, Chief Executive Officer, Regional Task Force on Homelessness
V. Moderated Q&A
Moderator: Meryl Schulman, CHCS
Related Resources
- How to Share Data: A Practical Guide for Health and Homeless Systems of Care – This California Health Care Foundation guide is intended to serve as a tool for communities at any stage of engagement in cross-sector data sharing between health and homelessness systems of care.
- Keys to Cross-Sector Collaboration: Learning from the Implementation of a Comprehensive Social Continuum Assessment – This report, developed by Health Leads and 211 San Diego, outlines the purpose and impact of the Comprehensive Social Continuum Assessment, which was created to serve as a standard measurement tool to capture the impact of an intervention, its value, and its ROI.
- San Diego County Homeless Management Information System Multiparty Authorization and Disclosure – This form, used by the San Diego County Homeless Management Information System and the Community Information Exchange (CIE), is used to receive authorization from an individual for their data to be shared between organizations in the CIE. A companion document included with the form, highlights all the organizations that use the CIE and with whom information can be shared.
- LifeArk – This modular-manufactured housing solution offers a scalable and environmentally responsible solution to the problem of affordable housing. Illumination Foundation is using LifeArk in collaboration with select cities in California. The first project recently launched in El Monte.
- Screening for Social Determinants of Health in Populations with Complex Needs: Implementation Considerations – This brief examines how organizations that participated in CHCS’ Transforming Complex Care initiative sought to assess and address health-related social needs for individuals with complex needs. The brief includes several screening tools.
- Social Determinants of Health & Practice Improvement – This Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) resource collection offers tools to help health care organizations address social determinants of health, including a number of tools for assessing patients’ social risks and needs.
