{"title":"Collaboration strategies for bridging health, behavioral health, and social services in California's Medi-Cal Whole Person Care Pilot Program.","authors":"Emmeline Chuang, Rachel Ross, Nadia Safaeinili, Leigh Ann Haley, Brenna O'Masta, Nadereh Pourat","doi":"10.1111/1475-6773.14417","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>To identify collaboration strategies used to integrate health, behavioral health, and social services for Medicaid members in California's Medi-Cal Whole Person Care Pilot program (WPC).</p><p><strong>Data sources and study setting: </strong>WPC was a social care intervention implemented to identify and address eligible members' health, behavioral health, and social needs. Data included semi-structured key informant interviews conducted in 2018-2019 (n = 221) and 2021 (n = 167); pilot-level surveys; whole-network surveys of 507 organizations in all 25 pilots participating in WPC; and documents submitted by pilots to the state. Pilots served a total of 247,887 unique members between 2017 and 2021, the majority of whom were non-white (72%) and over half of whom experienced homelessness.</p><p><strong>Study design/data collection: </strong>Data were collected as part of the statewide evaluation of WPC. We analyzed qualitative data to examine strategies used by pilots to integrate care, network data to identify pilots that improved cross-sector collaboration (i.e., strengthened density or multiplexity of cross-sector ties) following WPC implementation, and comparative case analysis to identify strategies that differentiated pilots that improved collaboration from those that did not.</p><p><strong>Principal findings: </strong>Pilots used multiple strategies to facilitate the integration of care. Network analyses identified 10 pilots that significantly improved either density or multiplexity of cross-sector ties, and one pilot with high cross-sector collaboration prior to WPC. Compared to pilots that did not improve cross-sector collaboration, these pilots meaningfully engaged partners in program design and implementation, used braided funds, and leveraged WPC to support broader systems change. These pilots also reported fewer challenges in developing and managing contractual relationships and ensuring meaningful use of data-sharing infrastructure by frontline staff responsible for care coordination.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Data sharing is necessary but not sufficient for systems alignment. Collaboration strategies focused on addressing financial barriers to integration and strengthening normative and interpersonal integration are also needed.</p>","PeriodicalId":55065,"journal":{"name":"Health Services Research","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1000,"publicationDate":"2024-12-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Health Services Research","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.14417","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"HEALTH CARE SCIENCES & SERVICES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objective: To identify collaboration strategies used to integrate health, behavioral health, and social services for Medicaid members in California's Medi-Cal Whole Person Care Pilot program (WPC).
Data sources and study setting: WPC was a social care intervention implemented to identify and address eligible members' health, behavioral health, and social needs. Data included semi-structured key informant interviews conducted in 2018-2019 (n = 221) and 2021 (n = 167); pilot-level surveys; whole-network surveys of 507 organizations in all 25 pilots participating in WPC; and documents submitted by pilots to the state. Pilots served a total of 247,887 unique members between 2017 and 2021, the majority of whom were non-white (72%) and over half of whom experienced homelessness.
Study design/data collection: Data were collected as part of the statewide evaluation of WPC. We analyzed qualitative data to examine strategies used by pilots to integrate care, network data to identify pilots that improved cross-sector collaboration (i.e., strengthened density or multiplexity of cross-sector ties) following WPC implementation, and comparative case analysis to identify strategies that differentiated pilots that improved collaboration from those that did not.
Principal findings: Pilots used multiple strategies to facilitate the integration of care. Network analyses identified 10 pilots that significantly improved either density or multiplexity of cross-sector ties, and one pilot with high cross-sector collaboration prior to WPC. Compared to pilots that did not improve cross-sector collaboration, these pilots meaningfully engaged partners in program design and implementation, used braided funds, and leveraged WPC to support broader systems change. These pilots also reported fewer challenges in developing and managing contractual relationships and ensuring meaningful use of data-sharing infrastructure by frontline staff responsible for care coordination.
Conclusions: Data sharing is necessary but not sufficient for systems alignment. Collaboration strategies focused on addressing financial barriers to integration and strengthening normative and interpersonal integration are also needed.
期刊介绍:
Health Services Research (HSR) is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal that provides researchers and public and private policymakers with the latest research findings, methods, and concepts related to the financing, organization, delivery, evaluation, and outcomes of health services. Rated as one of the top journals in the fields of health policy and services and health care administration, HSR publishes outstanding articles reporting the findings of original investigations that expand knowledge and understanding of the wide-ranging field of health care and that will help to improve the health of individuals and communities.