Physicians

Roundtables Highlight Common Tech Challenges Facing Medicaid Programs

September 6, 2019

Melissa Buckley

The innovation opportunity in California and across the nation is huge, with one in five Americans enrolled in a state Medicaid program.

Expanding the Role of Nurse Practitioners

In September 2020, California passed AB 890, which opened the pathway for nurse practitioners (NPs) to treat patients without physician supervision. This was one of the California Future Health Workforce Commission’s priority recommendations to address the state’s shortage of health care workers.

The Real Story of America

September 3, 2019

Xenia Shih Bion

Stories That Caught Our Attention: America's struggle with race relations — including in health care — inspired an extraordinary effort by the New York Times Magazine to tell a four-century saga in ways that explain the challenges facing contemporary society.

Buprenorphine: An Overview for Clinicians

Scott Steiger, Triveni DeFries

Buprenorphine, an FDA-approved medication for addiction treatment and pain relief, cuts opioid overdose death rates in half. Yet the majority of people with opioid use disorder do not receive this medication-assisted treatment. This document provides answers to frequently asked questions and aims to increase provider comfort with prescribing buprenorphine.

Can Hollywood Change Attitudes About Addiction and Mental Health?

August 19, 2019

Xenia Shih Bion

Stories That Caught Our Attention: Hollywood, Health & Society, a program of the USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center, provides writers and producers of films and TV shows with free and accurate resources on health.

‘Treat Me Like a Person’: What We’ve Heard So Far from Californians with Low Incomes

August 16, 2019

Medi-Cal, Workforce

A new research project is exploring how Californians in the safety net experience their health care and what they hope to get out of their encounters.

Independent Nurse Practitioners Bridge Big Gaps in Rural Care

Heather Stringer

California is one of 22 states that do not permit nurse practitioners to practice and prescribe without ongoing physician oversight. Journalist Heather Stringer traveled to Colorado to see how nurse practitioners are being deployed in two rural communities.

Opioid Safety Lessons Put Physician on Path to State Policymaking

Behavioral Health

After five years leading CHCF's High-Value Care Team and its opioid safety portfolio, Kelly Pfeifer, MD, will become deputy director of mental health and substance use disorder services for California state government.

Will Low-Income Women Lose Access to the Reproductive Health Care They Need?

Xenia Shih Bion

Stories That Caught Our Attention: The Trump administration’s changes to the Title X Family Planning Program are expected to severely reduce access to reproductive health services in California and across the country.

How California Can Finally Close In on Meaningful Health Price Transparency

Kristof Stremikis

Health Care Costs

For more than a decade, state and federal policymakers have argued for greater health care price transparency. Their efforts received a push in recent weeks.

A Doctor’s Eye-Opening House Call at a Lockup for Migrant Children

Xenia Shih Bion

Stories That Caught Our Attention: A pediatrician documents terrible conditions for kids separated from their parents at the border and put into detention centers.

Dreaming of a Career in Health Care

Xenia Shih Bion

Stories That Caught Our Attention This Week: The first undocumented student to enter UCSF School of Medicine has graduated after pausing his medical training for one year to earn a master's degree in public health from Harvard.

2010 Edition — California Physician Facts and Figures

This Almanac report describes the landscape for physician services in 2009.

2014 Edition — California Physicians

This Almanac report, California Physicians: Surplus or Scarcity?, describes the landscape for physician services in 2012.

California’s Health Care Workforce — Almanac Collection

This Almanac collection takes a look at the state's health care workforce. Detailed reports provide data on physicians and nurses, and a set of quick reference guides focus on pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, physician assistants, health diagnostic and treatment therapists, clinical laboratory scientists and technicians, and imaging professionals.