Carlina Hansen, Senior Program Officer at California Health Care Foundation: Amplifying the Role of Community-Connected Health Workers

States are often described as laboratories for public policy development on major issues, generating new best practices that can spread to other states and influence federal action. As an acknowledged leader in working to improve healthcare access and quality, California’s innovations in this area are closely watched, including the unusual step it took in the last few years to allow non-traditional providers to participate in its Medicaid program, known as Medi-Cal. According to our WorkforceRx guest, Carlina Hansen of the California Health Care Foundation, the idea behind it is to tap provider resources that are more closely connected to the patients being served. “California is interested in seeing how we can amplify the role of community-connected workers such as doulas, peer support specialists and health navigators who often act as trusted bridges between the healthcare system and our communities,” she explains to Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. A new Foundation report reveals the approach is gaining some traction thanks in part to the role of Community Care Hubs which help providers new to the system navigate administrative requirements that can serve as barriers to entry. “Hubs act as sort of the connective tissue between health plans, providers, and communities. They hold the promise to make it easier to connect those community-based providers and their patients to Medi-Cal.” This in-depth conversation offers a ground level view of promising innovations in providing community-based, whole person care with an expanded interprofessional team.