This report lays a foundation for developing effective report design and dissemination methods for Medi-Cal managed care programs. This "how to" report examines the challenges of producing guides for low-literacy and culturally and linguistically diverse audiences. It proposes facilitating informed choice by:

• Educating beneficiaries about how to identify and receive high-quality care from their plans; and
• Presenting comparative information about health plan performance.

The complex and geographically diverse structure of Medi-Cal managed care requires special tactics for meeting the specific information and decision-making needs of beneficiaries at the county level. Recommendations include developing a separate consumer guide for each county and making it a separate document from the beneficiary enrollment packet.

This report is part of the technical assistance provided by CHCF to the California Department of Health Services (DHS) to develop consumer guides on quality for Medi-Cal managed care beneficiaries. The consumer guides will present quality information, including selected HEDIS and CAHPS data currently collected by DHS, in a consumer-friendly format and will be distributed to Medi-Cal beneficiaries in multiple languages.

Draft prototypes of the consumer guides will be tested with English- and Spanish-speaking beneficiaries. Once finalized, the prototypes will also be translated into a number of languages and distributed primarily with beneficiary enrollment materials. The consumer guides will be updated on a regular basis to reflect current quality measures.

The complete report is available under Document Downloads below.