Dear CIN Colleagues,

We are thrilled to share that after a months-long redesign process, the California Health Care Foundation has approved a multi-year renewal grant for the California Improvement Network! 

Next month we will begin sharing details here on the next cycle of CIN, which will focus on ways to achieve equitable health care experiences and outcomes through cross-sector connections, learning, and the spread of good ideas.

Until then, see the story of how CIN supported a physician buddy program to battle burnout, check out the highlights of CIN’s latest cycle, and explore more great resources below.

In the next cycle, we will be inviting community-based organizations to join the network and offering health care organizations expanded ways to participate. Please take a moment to forward this link to a colleague and invite them to sign up now.

San Diego Health Centers Fight Provider Burnout by Fostering Workplace Friendships 

Preventing burnout and helping new physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants stay in their careers has been a major priority for CIN since 2005. In 2018, Nicole Howard at CIN partner organization Health Quality Partners of Southern California was inspired by a CIN discussion to arrange for physicians from Stanford Health and the Mayo Clinic to make wellness presentations to San Diego organizations. With support from CIN, San Ysidro Health later initiated one of the strategies discussed — a physician buddy program that helps build social connections within the staff. San Ysidro Health physician assistants Kimberly Thomas and Sheri Rosenblatt were soon paired as buddies in a pilot program to prevent pandemic-related provider burnout across the large Federally Qualified Health Center in San Diego County.

What elements contribute to thriving community partnerships among medical and social support agencies? Three key values are crucial to the success of collective action: respect, trust, and vulnerability. These values underlie 10 time-tested ways to build effective, supportive partnerships, as shared by CIN partner the Center for Care Innovations (CCI).

As discussed in the CIN podcast on community partnerships (episodes 1 and 3), partnerships are a lot like relationships in that they require constant attention and nurturing. As well, these partnerships require commitment and persistence (episode 5). Checkout the Health Strategies Radio podcast.

2022 Community Information Exchange: California Forum

In a Community Information Exchange (CIE), network partners commit to redefining a patient/client's needs beyond siloed programs and services, and embrace a holistic view of person-centered care. Together, partners design systems that meet the needs of Medicaid recipients and other vulnerable populations.

Join in this forum to learn about CIE advancement and recent local and state policy proposals that prioritize funding to support data-sharing infrastructure. Register early to gain access to a free August 4 webinar about key California policy initiatives — including CalAIM and AB 133 — that will influence the success and sustainability of CIE projects.

Tactics that focus on population health management are central to health care improvement. Effective strategies can come from collective learnings — and must be revisited and updated as the field moves forward.

“Promising practices” from CIN partner Redwood Community Health Coalition are practices that health centers have tried and found to be successful, resulting in improvements to clinical quality outcomes, staff and provider satisfaction, and/or patient engagement. They encompass workflows or tools, staff education and trainings, EHR improvements, and outreach/in-reach techniques.

“LGBTQ youth are not inherently prone to suicide risk because of their sexual orientation or gender identity but rather placed at higher risk because of how they are mistreated and stigmatized in society.” — The Trevor Project

A new service — imi — helps address the growing mental health crisis affecting LGBTQ+ youth by providing them with free, accessible, and research-backed support in a safe digital space. imi was designed with input from hundreds of LGBTQ+ teens with a focus on representation from BIPoC, trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming youth. Share the imi service with your clients and other providers to help teens explore their identities and get mental health support.

Research shows that people of color are less likely to receive the most effective treatments for life-threatening conditions, including cancer and heart disease. One way to address racial bias in medical care is by aiming for “pharmacoequity” — where all patients, regardless of race, socioeconomic status, disability, or other characteristics, have access to the highest-quality evidence-based medical therapies. On The Dose podcast from The Commonwealth Fund, Utibe Essien, MD, explains what it will take to achieve pharmacoequity. “The data are not lying about how we’re prescribing medications,” he says. He believes we must trust the data and develop strategies to ensure greater equity.