The California Health Care Foundation (CHCF) is accepting applications for quality improvement projects that address anti-Black racism in California’s health care delivery system. Through this Request for Proposals (RFP), CHCF hopes to accelerate implementation of such projects, learn from them, and contribute to building a knowledge base for clinical interventions that measurably improve the health outcomes and health care experiences of Black Californians.
About CHCF
CHCF works to improve the health care system so that all Californians have the care they need. We focus especially on making sure the system works for Californians with low incomes and for communities that have traditionally faced the greatest barriers to care.
Background
In 2020, CHCF launched a targeted effort to improve health care, and thus health outcomes, for Black Californians regardless of their income or the type of insurance coverage they have. This approach recognizes the impacts of anti-Black racism on the health of Black Californians across income and socioeconomic class.
The goal of this RFP is to solicit projects that address anti-Black racism in the health care system. CHCF seeks to support five to eight projects that have the potential to accelerate change in delivery system policies and practices in the near term.
Applicants may apply for grants of up to $150,000 for a two-year grant period to implement and assess the impact of efforts to improve equitable medical care for Black Californians in public or private clinics, hospitals, and medical practices. CHCF encourages smaller grants that assess small tests of change or that lay essential groundwork for assessing equitable care. These efforts are often more likely to be adopted in regular operations. The goal is to fund a mix of smaller and larger efforts that can be integrated into regular operations.
Summary of Proposal Requirements
- The proposed project must focus on improving clinical quality of care for Black patients and focus on the delivery of medical care; projects must also include another aspect of the NCQA Equity Quality Framework, equitable access, patient experience, structures of care, or social interventions.
- Projects may consist of a new pilot program or an existing program that still needs exploration.
- Interventions may be among Medi-Cal, Medicare, commercial insurance enrollees, or some combination.
- Hospitals, clinics, Federally Qualified Health Centers, academic medical centers, and medical practices are encouraged to apply.
- The project team must include at least one licensed medical leader.
- The project must articulate a hypothesis about what works and have a plan to assess impact (progress or improvement in the desired outcomes) using either process measures tightly linked to outcomes or outcome measures.
- All funds may be used for measuring impact if warranted.
- Grantees must share a brief sustainability plan for projects that show promise.
- Grantees must share their intervention approaches and findings with CHCF and other grantees and agree to have their work presented at the proper level of specificity in a CHCF publication.
- Grantees will be asked to participate in a virtual kickoff meeting and one in-person convening per year in Oakland. CHCF will reimburse travel expenses.