Latest California Healthline Stories
Will Ending Adult Day Health Care Services Save State Money?
The state has said its decision to eliminate adult day health care services as a Medi-Cal benefit — essentially shuttering ADHC centers and moving beneficiaries into managed care — is a cost-saving move. But there are questions about how much money it actually will save.
Building Public Trust in Electronic Health Information Exchange
The privacy and security “Tiger Team” has been prolific in its issuance of recommendations on everything from patient consent to authentication. The group’s recommendations are likely to factor strongly into the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology’s privacy- and security-related policymaking.
Smokers, Politicians Struggle With Tobacco Habit
Smoking among adults is dropping in California, according to a recent report. Another kind of tobacco habit — money spent to influence California politicians and policy — could be on the rise in coming months in response to a statewide ballot initiative to increase the tobacco tax.
Inland Empire Health Information Exchange Near Launch
Health officials in Riverside and San Bernardino counties have spent the last two years planning and gathering stakeholders to build the region’s first health information exchange. About 15 hospitals and 2,000 doctors are expected to participate in the initiative.
New Trend in Sustainable HIEs: Fair Share Financial Support
Regulatory policy from CMS aims to incentivize health information exchanges to secure funding from other sources. Whether HIE initiatives can leverage this opportunity and secure funding from enough stakeholders will depend on a variety of factors, including payment reform.
Effort Aims To Fight Obesity by Bringing More Grocery Stores to California’s ‘Food Deserts’
Janne Boone-Heinonen of Oregon Health and Science University, Margaret Gee of the Bay Area Local Initiatives Support Corporation and Marion Standish of the California Endowment spoke with California Healthline about efforts to combat obesity by increasing access to grocery stores.
Date Set, Plaintiffs Get Support in High Court Medi-Cal Case
First up on the Supreme Court’s docket this fall is a California case determining whether Medi-Cal beneficiaries and providers have the right to sue the government. The ruling — no matter which side it favors — is expected to have far-reaching implications.
Incentives for Public Hospitals a Microcosm of Reform Goals
Want to know how national health care reform might look? Take a look at what California’s public hospitals are doing. They are in the second year of a five-year plan that shares many of the same goals as the Affordable Care Act.
Lost Battle Over ADHC Turns to One Big Question: What Now?
Most of the 35,000 Californians who use adult day health care services don’t really care about the many political and legal twists and turns ADHC has gone through in the past five months. They’re more worried about what’s going to happen to them — and they’re not alone in that worry.
Crisis Creates New Way To Train Family Physicians in Valley
A residency program in Modesto bypasses the hospital as a home base and instead trains family physicians in community health centers. According to one expert, the new approach “makes ‘change’ a positive word in the residency world.”