
Quality Improvement and Health Equity Committee (QIHEC) Quarterly Report
The QIHEC is a group of people from Kaiser Permanente and the community. We work together to make sure everyone gets the right healthcare. No matter their race, ethnicity, gender, or who they love. We focus on keeping people healthy and preventing disease. We do this by making sure everyone gets the care they need. The QIHEC helps us make healthcare better for Medi-Cal members.
Here's a summary of what was talked about, decided, and done in recent meetings.
Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Plans and Systems (CAHPS®) Result Summary – coming in 2025
The QIHETP work plan lists the projects and goals we’re working on. It keeps track of how well we’re improving the fairness and quality of health care for our members.
Goals and Plans
Main Goal: Make health care better for Medi-Cal members by focusing on the most important areas.
How we’ll do it:
- Take actions to reach our goals.
- Assign responsible people to complete tasks by set deadlines.
- Check results and figure out what worked and what didn’t.
- Identify problems and find ways to fix them.
- Plan next steps to continue improving care.
The 12 projects are:
1. Project: Kaiser Permanente Statewide Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) Clinical Performance Improvement Project
Goal: Help more Black or African American children who have Medi-Cal get regular health check-ups in their first 30 months of life; focusing on getting six or more check-ups by the time they are 15 months old and keep getting check-ups until they are 2.5 years old.
Deadline: 12/31/2025
Steps to reach the goal:
- Send reports to DHCS on time.
- Share updates on our progress with important groups and leaders.
- Check the data often to see if we are improving.
- Teach healthcare workers and children’s parents why this is important.
- Work with local healthcare teams to share good ideas.
- Find new ways to improve by learning from other health plans.
- Have regular meetings to track our progress.
2. Project: Kaiser Permanente Statewide DHCS Non-Clinical Performance Improvement Project
Goal: Make sure more doctors are notified within 7 days if their patients go to the emergency room for drug use or mental health problems.
Deadline: 12/31/2025
Steps to reach the goal:
- Send reports to DHCS on time.
- Share updates on our progress with important groups and leaders.
- Check the data often to see if we are improving.
- Work with local healthcare teams to share good ideas.
- Find new ways to improve by learning from other health plans.
- Have regular meetings to track our progress.
- Create a system to track notifications and find problems.
- Improve how hospitals talk to doctors.
- Set up automatic alerts so doctors get messages faster.
- Work with emergency rooms to notify Kaiser Permanente doctors within 7 days.
3. DHCS MCAS Measure: Lead Screening in Children
Goal: Make sure more children and teens get fluoride treatments twice a year to prevent cavities.
Deadline: 12/31/2025
Steps to reach the goal:
- Send reports to DHCS on time.
- Share updates on our progress with important groups and leaders.
- Check the data often to see if we are improving.
- Work with local healthcare teams to share good ideas.
- Find new ways to improve by learning from other health plans.
- Have regular meetings to track our progress.
- Start a statewide plan to improve oral health.
- Work with doctors and dentists to ensure children get fluoride treatments with documentation.
- Connect families with dental resources in the community.
- Improve communication so families know where to find dental care.
- Make it easier to see a dentist and reduce waiting times for appointments.
- Keep using the electronic system to alert doctors and track fluoride treatments for children at certain ages.
- Offer clinic appointment fluoride treatment option.
4. Project: DHCS Collaborative Initiatives
Goal: Work with the state (DHCS) on projects to help improve children’s health, focusing on fairness and equal care.
Deadline: 12/31/2025
Steps to reach the goal:
- Send reports to DHCS on time.
- Share updates on our progress with important groups and leaders.
- Check the data often to see if we are improving.
- Work with local healthcare teams to share good ideas.
- Find new ways to improve by learning from other health plans.
- Have regular meetings to track our progress.
- Join and help with the important projects for children’s health in 2024-2025.
- Complete all the tasks in the first part of the project (Phase 1).
- Share what we learned from the projects with our team and leaders for their feedback and support.
- Decide if it is a good idea to take part in the next part of the project (2025-2026).
5. Project: External Quality Review Recommendations
Goal: Fix problems and follow the advice from the 2023-2024 review of Kaiser’s healthcare services in Southern California.
Deadline: 12/31/2025
Steps to reach the goal:
- Check the actions already taken to fix issues based on the review report.
- Follow the advice given to make our health care services better.
- Work with the health department to fix any problems found in the 2024 review and make sure all rules are followed for better care.
6. Project: DHCS MCAS Measure: Lead Screening in Children
Goal: Make sure more children get tested for lead before they turn two years old.
Deadline: 12/31/2025
Steps to reach the goal:
- Send reports to DHCS on time.
- Share updates on our progress with important groups and leaders.
- Check the data often to see if we are improving.
- Work with local healthcare teams to share good ideas and remove barriers.
- Find new ways to improve by learning from other health plans.
- Have regular meetings to track our progress.
- Improve reminder systems in electronic health records.
- Contact families directly about screenings.
- Use automated messages to remind families.
7. Project: Children’s Health – 50x2025 Bold Goals
Goal: Help more children get the care they need by 2025.
Deadline: 12/31/2025
Steps to reach the goal:
- Send reports to DHCS on time.
- Share updates on our progress with important groups and leaders.
- Check the data often to see if we are improving.
- Work with local healthcare teams to share good ideas and to plan and improve health services.
- Find new ways to improve by learning from other health plans.
- Have regular meetings to track our progress.
- Start programs to help children get checkups, vaccines, dental care, and mental health support.
- Make sure all children can get the care they need, no matter what race and ethnicity they are.
8. Project: Meeting State Goals
Goal: Ensure that Kaiser Permanente Medi-Cal programs do well on important health measures in all counties to meet or exceed state standards.
Deadline: 12/31/2025
Steps to reach the goal:
- Send reports to DHCS on time.
- Share updates on our progress with important groups and leaders.
- Check the data often to see if we are improving.
- Work with local healthcare teams to share good ideas.
- Find new ways to improve by learning from other health plans.
- Have regular meetings to track our progress.
- Create fair programs so everyone can get the care they need.
- Follow state rules to fix any problems.
- Fix past issues by using state guidance.
- Work with counties to help communities.
9. Project: Network Lead Entity (NLE): Checking Partner Care and Support Programs
Goal: Make sure that the partners providing care to Medi-Cal patients are doing a good job and following the rules in their contracts.
Deadline: 12/31/2025
Steps to reach the goal:
- Send reports to DHCS on time.
- Share updates on our progress with important groups and leaders.
- Check the data often to see if we are improving.
- Work with local healthcare teams to share good ideas.
- Find new ways to improve by learning from other health plans.
- Have regular meetings to track our progress.
- Check records often to make sure all partners are following the rules.
- Track how problems are being fixed.
10. Project: Vendor Quality Oversight
Goal: Make sure that the vendors who provide acupuncture, chiropractic, and hearing aid services are following the rules and giving good care to Medi-Cal patients.
Deadline: 12/31/2025
Steps to reach the goal:
- Send reports to DHCS on time.
- Share updates on our progress with important groups and leaders.
- Check the data often to see if we are improving.
- Work with local healthcare teams to share good ideas.
- Find new ways to improve by learning from other health plans.
- Have regular meetings to track our progress.
- Check records often to make sure all vendors are following the rules.
- Keep track of how they solve any problems.
11. Project: Population Health and Coordinated Care
Goal: Make sure our population health and coordinated care programs help Medi-Cal members get fair and complete care.
Deadline: 12/31/2025
Steps to reach the goal:
- Send reports to DHCS on time.
- Share updates on our progress with important groups and leaders.
- Check the data often to see if we are improving.
- Work with local healthcare teams to share good ideas.
- Find new ways to improve by learning from other health plans.
- Have regular meetings to track our progress.
- Ensure all programs give fair access to care and support.
- Join local community health efforts in 11 geographic areas.
- Help Medi-Cal members who were in jail get back into healthcare and society through special programs.
12. Project: Medi-Cal Member Satisfaction Survey
Goal: Find out how happy Medi-Cal members are with their doctors and the services they receive.
Deadline: 12/31/2025
Steps to reach the goal:
- Send reports to DHCS on time.
- Share results and updates on our progress with important groups and leaders.
- Check the data often to see if we are improving.
- Work with local healthcare teams to share good ideas.
- Find new ways to improve by learning from other health plans.
- Have regular meetings to track our progress.
- Ask members about their experience.
- Review answers to see what’s good and what needs work.