California Health Care Improvement Projects (CHIPs) are designed by CHCF Health Care Leadership Program participants with the goal of addressing meaningful challenges or opportunities in health care.
Browse CHIPs to leverage the work of CHCF alumni and find opportunities to collaborate in order to improve health for Californians.
California Health Care Improvement Projects (CHIP)
Meeting Clients Behavioral Needs During a Global Pandemic
How do we continue to provide high quality behavioral health services to clients during a global pandemic? Research suggests that the interventions most essential for pandemics necessarily disrupt the very social processes that facilitate mental health, including social support availability, day...
The Road to COVID-19 Immunity: Building Trust while Combating Misinformation
The politicization and circulating misinformation on the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccine has led to increased vaccine hesitancy. In particular, Black and Latino communities have suffered the burden of infections and death, yet lag in their vaccination rates. Based on experience, and research done...
“Is this going to be on the test?” Dismantling racism in medicine– an animated short
Yousef "Dr. Yo-Yo" Turshani, witnessed the protests of summer 2020 and sensed an opportunity. He leveraged his role on the Pediatrics Exam committee of the American Board of Pediatrics to make a change that could have national implications. What is on the Board exam directly influences what...
A Telehealth Journey: From Emergency Response to Sustainable Operations
Telehealth has always interested me as a model of care to decrease barriers and increase access to care, but prior to the pandemic state of emergency there wasn’t a reimbursement model for FQHCs in primary care. We were doing some telehealth with remote specialists, bringing patients to the...
Maximizing the PPE Available for Los Angeles County Workforce during COVID-19
My CHIP project focuses on conservation of personal protective equipment (PPE) for the 23,000 workforce members in the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The objective was to find new ways to extend our existing supply of PPE, identify safe and...
Leadership and Advocacy for Black Maternal Health Outcomes
Black birthing mothers and their babies are dying in one of the most progressive and wealthiest cities of the country. I engaged San Francisco’s city officials and the Department of Public Health leadership to do something about health inequities and improve disparities impacting Black/African...
Birth-Centered Outcomes Research Engagement (B-CORE) in Medi-Cal
Objective: The project will use deliberative democracy methods to engage stakeholders most impacted by pregnancy-related death in Medi-Cal to generate solutions and design interventions to support equity in maternal health outcomes for Medi-Cal-covered births.
Managing Mental Health Crises on the Telephone (an interim report from my leadership journey)
The CHIP was a focal point of the CHCF program, but my true CHIP came through learning about myself as a leader during challenging times. Fueled by burning questions and supported by mentors, friends and family, I managed to thrive during the past two years. Given all the crises in the world,...
Amplifying Health Care Workforce Diversity through Community Empowerment: Capacity Building for Alliance in Mentorship/MiMentor
My project aims to address the six-fold disparity in the California Latinx physician workforce to the populations they serve. This workforce mismatch contributes to health care disparities by diminishing access to care for marginalized populations as well as the delivery of culturally and...
Overcoming Financial Barriers to Medication Access with Drug Manufacturer Copay Coupon Programs
Remove barriers to medication access, improve a patient’s therapeutic outcomes by preventing under treatment, and increase overall patient care affordability by implementing KP approved drug manufacturer copay coupons electronic claims processing at KP National Specialty Pharmacy (KPNSP).
My Vote. Our Health.
Project Goal: To increase civic engagement among approximately 175 AltaMed physicians by increasing their civic engagement activities by Summer 2020.
Team-Based Advance Care Planning
Project Goal: To increase the total number of quality advance care planning conversations documented by a variety of disciplines on the team, including physicians, medical trainees, advanced practice providers, social workers, dieticians, nurses and rehab specialists (PT/OT/SLP).
Human Trafficking: Ready to Respond
Project Goal: By September 2020, providers at SMMC would demonstrate a 50% improvement in their collective knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors for recognizing and responding appropriately to patients who may be trafficked.
DisasterCrash Cart and IsoCare
Project Goal: To turn my experience providing medical care in evacuation centers during the fires into a virtual toolbox for other doctors to do the same when disaster comes to their town and to address the lack of education and support given to low income people likely to have COVID-19 at the...
Tele-Physiatry: Improving Access and Quality to California’s Medical Therapy Units
Project Goal: To implement a Tele-physiatry model of care to underserved school-based Medical Therapy Units while evaluating access, patient and parent experience of care, quality metrics and economic impact to the State.
Providing Community Based Care to Aging Adults Experiencing Homelessness
Project Goal: To develop and implement basic standards of care for the aging homeless population in the community. These standards include: falls prevention strategies, providing support and preparing for any living situation, robust behavioral health support, expertise in the path to...
Improving COPD Management in Medi-Cal Population
Project Goal: Improve individuals’ quality of life and provide wrap around services in multiple settings to this vulnerable population to achieve overall cost reductions by 2%, ER utilization reduction by 2%, and inpatient admission reduction by 2%.
Climate Change is a Public Health Emergency
Project Goal: To educate stakeholders, identify allies, develop specific goals and strategic pathways, identify funding sources, and create a long-term plan to continue forward after the end of the fellowship.
CLINICAL KEY: Med School Application Guidance for Underrepresented in Medicine
Project Goal: To measure the number of students in this undergraduate or post-baccalaureate UIM cohort that gain acceptance to medical school or other healthcare professional programs.
The Hearing Connection: Improving and Increasing Access and Quality of Hearing Health Care to Individuals Experiencing or At Risk of Homelessness
Project Goal: To pilot a program through a partnership with Project Homeless Connect that would improve and increase both access and quality of hearing healthcare for homeless individuals. Ultimately, to use the impact-based results/outcomes of this program model to replicate and scale statewide...
Increasing the Number of Women Physicians in Leadership Positions
Project Goal: To create a 10% increase in women physician leaders who have solid networks and mentoring to help them continue to progression their leadership journeys.
Addressing Barriers to Care in Medi-Cal
Project Goal: To decrease the number of new beneficiaries that are food insecure by 10% in 1 year, and link > 50% of members that are positive for food insecurity to an appropriate resource.
Patient-Reported Outcomes in Oncology (PROMOnc)
Project Goal: Survey adult patients with primary chemotherapy for stage I-III breast cancer, stage II-III colon cancer, or stage II-IIIA lung cancer immediately before, during, and after chemotherapy to determine pain, fatigue, and quality of life. Engage appropriate resources based on the...
Improving Mental Health for Children of Military Families in Contra Costa County
Project Goal: To engage community organizations to identify the needs and create mental health solutions for children of military families.
Role Clarity: the Corner Stone of Share the Care
Project Goal: After completing a series of role clarification exercises in the first half of 2020, our teamlets, made up of primary care providers and medical assistants, will report an improvement in role clarity, in their teamlet relationship, and that they have the tools and training to...
Designating Sobering Centers in the Care of Acute Intoxication
Project Goal: In response to current California legislation (AB 1544 Community Paramedicine or Triage to Alternate Destination Act) and the CalAIM Medi-Cal Reform (proposing In Lieu of Services to establish sobering care), create a national accreditation program through the National Sobering...
Busting the Visit Buster: A Tele-Behavioral Health Intervention for Managing Acute Psychosocial Crises in Primary Care
Project Goal: To improve access to needed behavioral health services for patients and reduce the frequency of providers reporting unmet need for same-day behavioral health services for complex psychosocial issues.
Meeting Acute Care Patients’ Behavioral Health and Social Needs through Multi-Disciplinary Partnership
Project Goal: Sustain and expand the ZSFG Social Medicine program by September 2020 via a) Securing $2M in financial support to grow team; b) Investing in staff engagement and professional development, and assessing measures of teamwork and engagement; c) Developing new internal and external...
CHIP: “Psychiatry Cares” Urgent Psychiatry Pathway
Project Goal: To provide virtual psychiatric consultation to 10 patients per week with urgent psychiatric needs within 72 hours of seeing their PCP. This will decrease levels of PCP burnout, decrease number of urgent referrals to psychiatry, and increase percentage of referrals accepted by...
Spreading ACEs and Trauma-Informed Care at Santa Rosa Community Health
Project Goal: The goal of the project was to train all staff at Santa Rosa Community Health on Trauma-Informed Care and ACEs screening and to begin universal ACEs screening by 2021.
Optimal Health for All – Debiasing Clinic
Project Goal: Using a train the trainer model a series of three trainings, a set of clinically applicable tools for each and a training team will be training to deliver the training. The training will be conducted for all county employees by June 2022.
Equity in SCPMG Physician Leadership
Project Goal: Develop, socialize and utilize a Diversity Dashboard to benchmark, goal set and create accountability to increase representation of Female Stipend Physician Leaders in Southern California Permanente Medical Group (SCPMG).
Improving Health Through Social Connectedness
Project Goal: Identify, screen and refer 15 adult, hospitalized patients by Feb. 28, 2020.
The Safe Haven Clinic Initiative: Tackling the Seemingly Intractable Co-Occurring Epidemics of Homelessness and Addiction in California
Project Goal: Support the launch of the first Safe Haven Clinic with Mendocino County in 2021 in a SNF commandeered by the County as a COVID Alternate Care Site (ACS) and purchased with CARES act funds – Whitmore Lane, Ukiah CA.
Managers in the Middle: Building Manager Engagement Through Peer Support and Professional Development
Project Goal: Increase manager engagement by investing in their professional development, create a forum for managers to collaborate, share, and grow their leadership skills, and cultivate manager self-efficacy by involving them in the project design from day one.
Doing More with the Same: Improving Specialty Access and Communication in the Safety Net
Project Goal: Implement eConsult in at least 20 specialties by December 2019, leverage eConsult mechanism for at least 25% of all referrals by August 2020, and reduce backlog to specialty care by 50% by August 2020.
Building An Integrated Care Training Program To Serve the Underserved
Project Goal: To establish a training program for Family Medicine residents and clinical psychology students so they can learn to deliver integrated health care services as a team to underserved patients in a primary care out-patient setting.
Narcan Per Pharmacy
Project Goal: Develop a protocol that would allow all LAC+USC pharmacists to distribute a Naloxone (Narcan) prescription for any patient getting a CII narcotic from a LAC+USC Pharmacy.
Applying New Technologies to Revolutionize STD Prevention and Control
Project Goal: To decrease the rate of gonorrhea (GC) and chlamydia (CT) in San Francisco, by increasing the proportion of men who have sex with men (MSM) and trans women who are screened for STDs every 3 months, and decreasing the time from diagnosis to treatment, thereby decreasing secondary...
Implementing a Population Health Approach to Patient Identification and Treatment of Depression in Primary Care
Project Goal: To pilot a payer-agnostic Collaborative Care program for depression in three UCSF Primary Care Clinics that utilizes patient identification for enrollment, systematic tracking with the use of a registry, brief psychotherapy, and psychiatric consultation.
Redesigning Primary Care Clinic to Address Drivers of Clinician Burnout
Project Goal: To use enhanced support staff roles, team communication tools, and user-oriented electronic medical record systems (EMR) design to improve the clinician experience.
Integrating Health Plan Quality Workforce in the local healthcare System: Kinetic Quality Improvement (QI) External Program
Project Goal: By 9/30/19, to demonstrate progress towards the quadruple aim by establishing a Kinetic QI external program through Practice Coaching, Learning Collaboratives, and developing a Practice Transformation Academy.
Integrating Care Between Behavioral Health and Outpatient Pediatrics
Project Goal: To pilot an embedded behavioral health treatment service in pediatrics that will support a patient’s ability to access mental health services in a timely and convenient manner – and ultimately lead to better mental health outcomes.
Increasing Cost Transparency in Health Care
Project Goal: To provide clinicians with cost information at point of ordering treatment so they are empowered to make the best decision for their patients.
Improving Physicians Engagement at Riverside University Health System
Project Goal: To improve communication between Riverside University Health System (RUHS) administration and front-line physicians as a way to increase physician satisfaction.
CRIS CONNECT Bridging the Gap After a Behavioral Health Crisis
Project Goal: To decrease the repeat utilization of high cost services and poor outcomes for patients using the behavioral health crisis system.
A Comprehensive Program to Provide Consistent Education to Pediatric Hospitals
Project Goal: To develop a comprehensive and consistent pediatric hospital based services (Pedi HBS) professional development program that supports development of core competencies in Pediatric Hospital Medicine, aligns local and regional performance improvement goals, and will give Pedi HBS...
Tackling the Opioid Crisis in El Dorado County
Project Goal: To increase county wide medication-assisted treatment capacity, promote safer prescribing practices, and implement harm reduction services to decrease overdose death in El Dorado County.
Improving Patient Access Time For Urgent Referrals To Specialists
Project Goal: To improve specialty physician access time for urgent referrals to less than 4 days.
Surgical Backlog Reduction via Scheduling Improvements and Use of an Outpatient Procedure Suite
Project Goal: To reduce operating room backlog for elective cases by implementing surgery scheduling efficiencies, enhancing monitoring capabilities and expanding an outpatient procedure suite to improve surgical access.