Community Engagement and Research Program (CERP)

DHS Partnered Pilot Projects

Los Angeles County Department of Health Services Safety-Net Health Innovation Awards

UCLA CTSI, the Southern California CTSI at USC, and the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (LAC DHS) awarded Safety-Net Health Innovation Awards (formerly Implementation Science Awards) to three project teams to develop and pilot interventions to enhance quality, efficiency and patient-centeredness of care in the county health care system.

Initiated three years ago, the Safety-Net Health Innovation Awards provide each team with up to $75,000 for one year. Projects are expected to provide preliminary data for extramural funding to implement and formally evaluate the interventions within LAC DHS. Between 2015 and 2019, we supported 18 projects* that had an impact on care or outcomes for:

82,000 patients
270 providers
LAUSD students

*The first round of DHS pilots did not include USC.

Year Awarded	Principal Investigator	PI Institution	Project Title
2019	Daniel DeUgarte	Lundquist/Harbor-UCLA	County-Wide Implementation of Post-Operative Pain Management Guidelines with Reduction of Prescribed Opioids
2019	David G. Armstrong, Gregory A. Magee	USC	The Hotfoot Line: Implementation and Harmonization of an Instant-triage Program to Speed Care and Eliminate Preventable Diabetes-related Amputation in the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services
2018	Emily Chang	Lundquist/Harbor-UCLA	Curing the Opioid Crisis: Integrative Medicine Services for Outpatient Pain Management
2018	Lello Tesema	LAC DHS (Correctional Health Services) / USC	Rapid Engagement of Patients with Substance Use Disorders through Expedited Triage (RESET): A Jail Implementation Study
2018	Kabir Yadav	Lundquist/Harbor-UCLA	Using Behavioral Science to Reduce Inappropriate Antibiotic Use in Acute Care Settings
2017	Dong Chang	Lundquist/Harbor-UCLA	Time Limited Trials to Reduce Non-Beneficial Intensive Care Unit Treatments Among Critically-Ill Patients with Advanced Medical Illnesses
2017	Elizabeth Pyatak	USC	Addressing Uncontrolled Diabetes in Primary Care: A Lifestyle Redesign Approach
2017	Kenneth Zangwill	Lundquist/Harbor-UCLA	Discontinuation of Antimicrobial Prophylaxis After Surgical Incision Closure