Quality Improvement and Health Equity Program

The Quality Improvement and Health Equity (QIHE) program is an evolving program responsive to the changing needs of our members and practitioners. Every year, L.A. Care assesses its QIHE program to identify opportunities for improvement, implement appropriate interventions, and assist you in improving your patients' health.

If you have any questions or concerns about the health plan, call L.A. Care's Member Service Department. 

If you would like a paper copy of this notice, please message the Quality Improvement Department of L.A. Care.

Message Quality Improvement

Network Practitioners

Network practitioners play a prominent role in the QIHE Program. 

L.A. Care actively solicits practitioners to become involved in QIHE activities through participation in QIHE, Credentialing, and Utilization Management committees, expert participation in peer review, and other QIHE collaborative activities. The QIHE program strives to improve equity and quality of care and services to members and to support the practitioner-patient relationship.

If you are interested in participating in any of our QIHE activities, such as committees, please message the Quality Improvement Department of L.A. Care.

Highlights of QIHE Activities

Highlights of QIHE activities designed to evaluate and improve the quality of health care for members.

The Quality Improvement and Health Equity Program is designed to meet the specific needs of L.A. Care members. L.A Care conducts surveys, studies and focus groups to assess strengths, weaknesses and opportunities to improve clinical care, access to care, and member and practitioner satisfaction.

What We Measure

Some of the things we measure include:

  • Appointment availability
  • After-hours services
  • How long do patients wait in the office for an appointment
  • Facility site review, which includes looking at access for disabled people
  • Making sure the network of doctors in your area fits your needs
  • Member satisfaction
  • Doctor satisfaction
  • Quality of care studies to ensure appropriate: 
    • Well child visits
    • Immunizations
    • Cervical cancer screening
    • Breast cancer screening
    • Diabetes care
    • Asthma care
    • High blood pressure 
    • Prenatal and postpartum care
    • Cholesterol management
Quality Improvement Goals

The Quality Improvement Goals are:

  • Improve the quality of care
  • Improve Health Equity
  • Improve the delivery of care for persons with complex healthcare needs
  • Improve member satisfaction
  • Meet regulatory and other health plan requirements
  • Monitor and improve patient safety
  • Monitor and improve behavioral healthcare
  • Monitor Quality of Care in Long Term Care Nursing Facilities and Community-Based Adult Services (CBAS) Facilities
  • Provide Health Education Programs, Services, and Resources
  • Provide culturally linguistically appropriate services
  • Provide a network of high-quality providers and practitioners
  • Provide an evidence-based model of care
  • Provide Continuous Improvement of Quality of Care Model of Care (MOC)
Quality Improvement and Health Equity Program Descriptions

Providing an effective, system-wide, measurable plan for monitoring, evaluating and improving the quality of care and services:

2023 Quality Improvement Program Description

Accreditation

National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA)

L.A. Care has achieved NCQA Health Plan (HP) Accreditation since 2014. Most recently, in 2020, L.A. Care earned this accreditation for its Medi-Cal, Medicare Plus (Dual-Special Needs Plan [D-SNP]), and L.A. Care Covered (LACC) lines of business.

Additionally, L.A. Care earned the 2021 NCQA Multicultural Health Care Distinction (MHC), this is L.A. Care’s 5th consecutive Distinction, it was first awarded in 2013 and has since successfully earned this distinction every two years.

For these awards, NCQA evaluated L.A. Care’s work to reduce health care disparities, network adequacy, and consumer protection as the organization’s ability to collect Race/Ethnicity/Language (REL) data and provide language assistance to members.

Earning the Health Plan Accreditation (HP) and the Multicultural Health Care Distinction (MHC); from NCQA is important for L.A. Care as it demonstrates L.A Care’s commitment to quality improvement translates to optimum levels of health services to our members while tailoring these services to our members’ cultural and language preferences.

HEDIS & CAHPS - Measuring Performance
We use  several tools each year to help us determine how we are doing. These include the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) and the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) survey. These measure the quality of care and service and show us where we can focus on improvement. HEDIS measures the quality of many types of care and service, and is used by nearly all American health plans. CAHPS is a survey that measures how happy patients are with their doctors, care, and plan. We use these results to help us improve our service.
Clinical Practice and Preventive Health Guidelines

L.A. Care maintains processes to ensure that healthcare is delivered according to professionally recognized standards of care. For selected treatment most relevant to the insured population, L.A. Care adopts and disseminates Clinical Practice and Preventive Health Guidelines sponsored by government and non-government organizations.

You can find these helpful guidelines by visiting our Clinical Practice and Preventive Health Guidelines.

Quality Improvement Provider Trainings

The Quality Improvement Program hosts monthly provider webinars on popular topics.

Learn more about upcoming webinars.

Star Measures

Star ratings are used to compare Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plans in helping patients make informed choices regarding their health care. Ratings emphasize patient care and satisfaction, using national clinical and service-quality measures, health outcomes and patient feedback.

Nurse Advice Line

The Nurse Advice Line (NAL) is a service provided by L.A. Care free of charge intended to give Members general health information, education, and advice and to assist Members in taking a more informed role in decisions regarding their health care options. Click here for more information about the 24 hour nurse advice line.

Access to Care

L.A. Care Health Plan monitors practitioner network availability and accessibility and telephone access to member services annually. L.A. Care, The California Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) and the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) have established quantifiable standards for both the number and geographic distribution of practitioners and driving distances to pharmacies and access standards for services.

L.A. Care uses guidelines to ensure that its members have access to care:

Access to Care Standards