Health Center Partners of Southern California Strengthens Integrated Care Network with Executive Appointments

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Health Center Partners (HCP) of Southern California, the region's preeminent authority and health care policy advocate for community health and underserved patient populations, today announced it has bolstered its leadership team with the addition of three executives to Integrated Health Partners (IHP), its subsidiary aimed at advancing standards of quality care through a Clinically Integrated Network (CIN). As part of this move, newly hired Amanda Simmons, executive vice president, Sarah Schauman, vice president for operations, and Sarah Cho, vice president for population health management, will advance the network through value-based care reform and population health management tools and techniques focused on addressing health equity and quality for vulnerable patients. This continued dedication to prevention, access and quality will allow the network to seek value-based payment reform alongside value-based care design as the group moves into alternative payment methodologies.

"With 275,000 lives under management for primary care in our first five years of operation and having maintained some of the highest HEDIS scores seen in California, we recognized that top-tier talent will make even further gains possible," said Henry Tuttle, president and CEO, Health Center Partners. "Especially for a complex, Medicaid-based patient population comprised of mainly non-English speakers (whom other providers are often unlikely to accept into their practices), this kind of Clinically Integrated Network is unparalleled. Through their foresight and mission-driven responsibility for their safety-net patients, Integrated Health Partner member health centers have created something extraordinary—changing the way care is delivered in this region, and we have bolstered the executive team to lead this effort."

As executive vice president for IHP, Simmons will drive overall strategy for the network, ensuring that member organizations are equipped to provide the highest-quality care for patients in the region, which spans San Diego and Riverside Counties. Simmons has dedicated her career to caring for underserved populations and improving the public health system. The new appointment will continue her mission-based work by implementing a value-based care model for IHP. Prior to joining IHP, Simmons led strategy, business development, and Medicaid reform for various health care organizations.

"There is already a solid foundation in place at IHP," said Simmons. "I've spent my entire career working to ensure that vulnerable populations receive high-quality, essential health care, and I look forward to further strengthening IHP's integrated patient network and bringing value to the surrounding communities."

With more than 10 years of experience working in population health management, Schauman will oversee strategic operations for IHP and help the community health centers transition to alternative payment methodologies. Through a holistic model of health care, she will further the organization's mission of addressing health equity and the social needs of marginalized communities and safety-net populations. Schauman previously worked in Medicaid transformation across the nation implementing and designing reform efforts in multiple states and provider settings. 

"This is an opportunity to drive strategy and refine administrative, financial and clinical operations for this innovative CIN which is highly focused on the holistic view of community health and the primary care needs of safety net patients," said Schauman. "The role of IHP in community health is crucial in advancing health equity in communities that have historically been denied the privilege to build a healthier region and to ensure everyone has a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible."

Cho, a trained epidemiologist, will oversee the network's quality department, technology initiatives, and data aggregation, integrity, and analysis to improve clinical quality measures, and will use this data to drive change through clinical best practices and network quality support models. She has been developing IHP's Arcadia platform since July 2018, fine-tuning the centralized business intelligence to close quality gaps to improve patient care quality. Previously, Cho worked at a large local health system where she led the data science team and oversaw corporate analytics for clinical quality and population health.

"Over the last 3 years, we've invested time and resources into building this population health data repository for the clinically integrated network," said Cho. "We're excited to use Arcadia to identify opportunities to address the health needs of our patient populations across the care continuum and to support the measurement of clinical quality indicators across all of IHP's health centers." The population health team will centralize patient information on a network level, allowing IHP to improve the quality of care for its patients. For more information about HCP or IHP, please visit https://hcpsocal.org/.

About Health Center Partners
A premier consortium of primary health care organizations, Health Center Partners (HCP) is the voice and advocate for its members who serve the health needs of communities throughout southern California. We serve as a catalyst for transforming and enhancing primary care by helping our members deliver quality health care to the safety net population in Southern California, through innovative programs, resources, and advocacy. A family of companies, HCP includes a 17-membership organization of Federally Qualified Health Centers, Indian Health Services Organizations, both urban and sovereign, and Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest, collectively serving 966,000+ patients each year, for 3.7 million patient visits each year, at 160 practice sites across San Diego, Riverside, Imperial counties, with the seventh largest provider group in the region. For more information, visit https://hcpsocal.org/, become a fan on Facebook, or follow us on Instagram and Twitter. 

SOURCE Health Center Partners of Southern California

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