OVERVIEW

We’ve supported organizations in different implementation phases of virtual care.

The COVID-19 pandemic upended the way California delivers health care. Health care systems completely restructured their services to keep both their patients and employees safe. Federal policymakers acted quickly to expand coverage and payment for virtual care. The California Department of Health Care Services also dismantled previous barriers to telehealth and began requiring Medi-Cal managed care plans to pay providers for telephone and video visits at the same rate as in-person visits.

As a result, many California health care providers rapidly pivoted from in-person visits to remote patient visits. For these organizations, this shift has been transformational, as they’ve adopted new technology, overhauled workflows, and redefined team member roles.

Our Connected Care Accelerator: Equity Collaborative was built on CCI’s work with the original Connected Care Accelerator (CCA) and the Virtual Care Innovation Network (VCIN), both of which supported virtual care for historically underinvested communities. Because the digital divide is still an enormous challenge for low-income, rural and migrant communities, among others, who often lack broadband and support for virtual care, the collaborative rapidly designed, scaled and shared strategies to improve equitable access to telehealth. We selected 22 safety net healthcare providers in California for the 13-month program, which was supported by the California Health Care Foundation with additional funding from Cedars Sinai. Learn more about the CCA-Equity Collaborative program kick-off here.