California collects vast amounts of clinical and cost data through the Medi-Cal program, which now serves almost one in three Californians. Aggregating and analyzing these data is key to understanding the Medi-Cal population, improving their care, and managing spending. Although the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) conducts much of this analysis internally, it also benefits from the work of outside researchers.

As part of CHCF’s Free the Data initiative with DHCS, CHCF held a webinar highlighting how data have been used to better understand the characteristics and needs of Medi-Cal enrollees with serious mental illness (SMI), and to evaluate programs aimed at improving care and outcomes for this population.

Three leading university faculty present their research findings, and staff from DHCS discuss the implications for program design and policy development, and opportunities for collaboration.

Presenters and moderators are:

• Karen Baylor, deputy director, Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Services, DHCS
• Tim Bruckner, PhD, associate professor, University of California, Irvine
• Todd Gilmer, PhD, professor of health economics, University of California, San Diego
• Neal Kohatsu, MD, medical director, DHCS
• Christina Mangurian, MD, associate professor of clinical psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco
• Chris Perrone, director, Improving Access, CHCF
• Linette Scott, MD, chief medical information officer, DHCS

A recording of the webinar and the meeting materials are available below.