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)
Hail underdogs! (My commitment to gender equality in healthcare leadership)
As a woman leader, I felt lonely. Other leaders looked nothing like me and I did not know if I belonged. Moreover, I was not alone; women leaders all across the United States felt this way. Of course, I decided to do something about it and founded an organization ‘PWL’ where women physician...
CHIP: Building a System of Care Between Prison and Community Health Systems
People returning from incarceration face a myriad of health inequities, including increased emergency department utilization, hospitalization and death. In the first two weeks post release, people are 12 times more likely to die than their community counterparts from health conditions that could...
Meeting Overwhelming COVID-19 Testing Need in Marginalized Communities in Los Angeles County
Marginalized communities were disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic with increased cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. As the County COVID-19 testing lead, I worked to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 testing in marginalized communities across Los Angeles County. We partnered...
Provider Accountability for Clinical Performance Metrics by Race
While it’s clear that racism and not race has been determined the driver for racial healthcare disparities, it can be frustrating and feel merely theoretical for providers to realize impactful mitigating efforts. My plan is to provide Provider Scorecards reflecting individualized performance...
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).
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...
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.
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.
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.
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.
Primary Care for the Mind: Improving Mental Health Access for Children
Project Goal: 1.To create a program to increase the knowledge and efficacy of UCSF Health Pediatric Network PCPs to diagnose and manage children with mild to moderate ADHD, Depression and Anxiety and to partner in a consultative model of care with Child Psychiatry. 2. Increase access for...
Multi-Division High-Utilizer Case Management Pilot
Project Goal: To analyze Contra Costa County’s 175,708 Medi-Cal eligible county residents as of June 2018 and run models to identify the predictors of avoidable hospital utilization over a 13 month period. Predictors considered are insurance status, race/ethnicity, age, history of detention,...
Maximizing Operating Room Availability for Trauma Patients
Project Goal: To maximize operating room (OR) space and decrease OR backlog for adult upper extremity trauma patients.
Launching a Scalable Collaborative Care Model for Depression in UCSF Primary Care
Project Description: To develop and implement a Collaborative Care Model (CoCM) pilot that increases access to mental health services, improves patient outcomes for depression, increases patient and provider satisfaction, and is financially sustainable.
Integrating Quality & Safety Across Two Children’s Hospitals
Project Goal: To design a strategy to integrate the quality and safety programs at Benioff Children’s Hospital-San Francisco and Benioff Children’s Hospital-Oakland.
Primary Care Virtual Multi-Disciplinary Support Team (MIST)
Project Goal: To establish a multi-disciplinary team doing virtual care to improve physician access, growth and joy of medicine in clinic.
Improving Operating Room Utilization at a Level I Trauma Center
Project Goal: To increase the number of elective and emergency surgical cases completed daily at a Level I Trauma Center.
Improving Access to Behavioral Health Services: Care When You Need It
Project Goal: To improve access to behavioral health services by providing educational outreach to primary care teams and implementing consistent use of screening tools.
Child and Teen Outpatient Psychiatry –Tackling Our Youth Mental Health Crisis
Project Goal: To offer comprehensive and accessible outpatient mental health treatments to the children and families receiving their medical care at UC San Diego Health.
A Multifaced Approach to Improving Quality Measures in the San Diego Veteran's Affairs Community Living Center
Project Goal: To improve the Quality Measure (QM) score in the San Diego Veteran's Affairs Community Living Center by advocating for improved score calculus, which would better reflect the care provided.
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.