Program Targets Super-Users of Health Care To Lower Costs, Increase Quality

In a California Healthline report by Tara Siler, experts discussed the state’s effort to handle super-utilizers of Medi-Cal services. One estimate says just 5% of patients use up 60% of the cost of health care services. By coordinating care in a better way for these patients in Medi-Cal, the state hopes to improve care quality and save money at the same time, in part by reducing emergency department visits and hospital admissions.

The report includes comments from:

Elizabeth Davis, medical director of care coordination at San Francisco General Hospital’s San Francisco Health Network Primary Care;
Hannah Katch, assistant deputy director for health care delivery, California Department of Health Care Services;
Marty Lynch, executive director of LifeLong Medical Care, Berkeley; and
Bertha Swan, daughter of San Francisco General Hospital patient Aroytemise Swan, San Francisco (Siler, California Healthline, 06/10/15).

You can download a PDF of this report.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

<h1>Program Targets Super-Users of Health Care To Lower Costs, Increase Quality</h1>
<div>		<time class="posted-on" datetime="2015-06-09T11:47:00-07:00">
			June 9, 2015		</time>
		</div>
<p>In a <em>California Healthline</em> report by Tara Siler, experts discussed the state’s effort to handle super-utilizers of Medi-Cal services. One estimate says just 5% of patients use up 60% of the cost of health care services. By coordinating care in a better way for these patients in Medi-Cal, the state hopes to improve care quality and save money at the same time, in part by reducing emergency department visits and hospital admissions.</p><p>The report includes comments from:</p><ul><li>Elizabeth Davis, medical director of care coordination at San Francisco General Hospital’s San Francisco Health Network Primary Care;</li><li>Hannah Katch, assistant deputy director for health care delivery, California Department of Health Care Services;</li><li>Marty Lynch, executive director of LifeLong Medical Care, Berkeley; and</li><li>Bertha Swan, daughter of San Francisco General Hospital patient Aroytemise Swan, San Francisco (Siler, <em>California Healthline</em>, 06/10/15).</li></ul><p>You can <a href="https://californiahealthline.org/legacy/B128EAF7-F338-4D37-9CF2-4D56420D4D9F">download a PDF</a> of this report.</p><ul><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/program-targets-superusers-of-health-care-to-lower-costs-increase-quality/?share=facebook">				Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)				Facebook			</a></li><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/program-targets-superusers-of-health-care-to-lower-costs-increase-quality/?share=linkedin">				Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)				LinkedIn			</a></li><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/program-targets-superusers-of-health-care-to-lower-costs-increase-quality/?share=x">				Click to share on X (Opens in new window)				X			</a></li><li><a href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20Program%20Targets%20Super-Users%20of%20Health%20Care%20To%20Lower%20Costs%2C%20Increase%20Quality&body=https%3A%2F%2Fcaliforniahealthline.org%2Fnews%2Fprogram-targets-superusers-of-health-care-to-lower-costs-increase-quality%2F&share=email">				Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)				Email			</a></li><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/program-targets-superusers-of-health-care-to-lower-costs-increase-quality/#print?share=print">				Click to print (Opens in new window)				Print			</a></li><li>				<a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/program-targets-superusers-of-health-care-to-lower-costs-increase-quality/view/republish/">					Republish This Story				</a>			</li></ul><em><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us">KFF Health News</a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about <a href="https://www.kff.org/about-us">KFF</a>.</em><p><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/morning-briefing/">Subscribe</a> to KFF Health News' free Morning Briefing.</p>

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