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SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – January 2025 – Two innovative programs to support the region’s health care needs – especially access to primary care physicians – are currently at work on the Central Coast. Both programs are administered by CenCal Health ,the local Medi-Cal health plan serving one in four residents of San Luis Obispo County, and one in three residents of Santa Barbara County. The Medi-Cal Capacity, Access and Workforce Development Grant Program was recently developed to expand healthcare capacity through strategic funding aimed at provider recruitment, and workforce training and education. Launched this month, CenCal Health will soon award its first round of grants up to $3 million, with a planned total distribution of $6 million over three years. In addition, $4.2 million was recently distributed in a quarterly payment to local primary care providers participating in the Quality Care Incentive Program (QCIP). QCIP directly rewards Medi-Cal providers who deliver exceptional medical care in their community, emphasizing the clinical priorities of significance to Medi-Cal members, such as diabetes and asthma care, breast cancer and cervical cancer screenings, and child and adolescent well-care visits. Since the QCIP program was launched in March 2022, many individual aspects of care have seen significant improvement, such as antidepressant medication management from a baseline of 57.3% to 72.7% compliance with treatment guidelines. Well-child visit utilization for infants to 15 months of age improved from 50.6% to 65.8%, and lead testing in children also improved from 59.1% to 72.5% compliance with established guidelines for abnormal blood lead testing.
“To have communities that truly thrive, quality health care needs to be available to those in need,” said CenCal Health CEO Marina Owen. “Launching these groundbreaking initiatives – under the direction of our Board of Directors and with the support of our local provider partners – marks a significant milestone in our shared commitment to improve access and equity in healthcare on the Central Coast.” CenCal Health partners with over 5,000 physicians, hospitals, and other providers in delivering health care services to more than 240,000 members.