Leveraging Data to Advance Health Equity and Success in CalAIM
Leveraging Data to Advance Health Equity and Success in CalAIM
This ITUP issue brief highlights the critical role of accessible and equitable data policy and infrastructure in the success of California’s Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) Initiative.
CalAIM initiatives rely on cross-provider communication to identify needs, refer members to clinical and social services, measure health disparities, reduce medical errors, and empower members with data ownership. This ITUP issue brief explores how improved health and social services information (HSSI) exchange through the California Health and Human Services (CalHHS) Data Exchange Framework (DxF) is essential for the foundational success of CalAIM to decrease current health disparities for vulnerable and marginalized communities in California.
Adoption of the DxF is essential for advancing health equity as it addresses data silos, incomplete community datasets, and a lack of coordination between social services and clinical care that disproportionately impact vulnerable populations. The DxF presents an opportunity to support CalAIM by establishing common data exchange procedures to accelerate information sharing across California and to collect and integrate social determinants of health (SDOH) data into whole person care.