Care Connections Program

Evaluating the impact of the Care Connections Program, a LAC DHS initiative

The partnership with Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (LAC DHS) evaluates the impact of the Care Connections Program (CCP), a LAC DHS initiative which aimed to build a community health worker (CHW) integrated care management program for the complex patients empaneled to LAC-DHS primary care practices. The CHWs worked with DHS primary care teams and practices to coordinate care and address the bio psychosocial needs of some of the hardest-to-engage LAC patients. CHWs worked on multidisciplinary teams within the existing LAC DHS patient-centered medical home staffing framework in eight LAC-DHS primary care practices in South and East Los Angeles. With the eventual goal of implementing CCP across the entire LAC-DHS system, LAC funded 25 CHWs in year and implemented the CHW using a randomized control trial.

About the Study

RCT of embedding CHWs in LAC DHS primary care clinics (n= 1291 patients) with several goals:

  • Improve patient-reported outcomes
  • Increase primary care visits
  • Decrease hospital / ED visits
  • Link patients to community resources

Study design & evaluation:

  • Patient surveys and focus groups
  • CHW Focus groups, Key informant interviews
  • Analysis of administrative data

Project profile videos from community health workers involved in the project: 

Partners:

  • Los Angeles County Health Services
  • California HealthCare Foundation
  • The California Endowment
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