IE11 Not Supported

For optimal browsing, we recommend Chrome, Firefox or Safari browsers.

CHHS Innovation Office Helps Agencies Streamline Process, Delivery

Officials at the California Health and Human Services Agency’s Office of Innovation, which was stood up last summer, discussed their successes in helping other departments improve process and procurement at a Techwire Member Briefing.

chaeny-forum-cropped.jpg
Less than a year after being stood up, the California Health and Human Services Agency’s (CHHS) Office of Innovation has partnered with 13 of 16 departments on technology issues, driving efficiency and effectiveness, its leader said Monday.

In remarks that opened a quarterly Techwire Member Briefing, CHHS Office of Innovation Director Chaeny Emanavin said engagements have varied from short initiatives centered on problem definition to longer projects that improved workflows — but have in many cases yielded significant enhancements.

“A lot of our process improvements have cut some of the process by half or more," Emanavin told around 100 members of the public and private sectors at the Crocker Art Museum. "But the thing that’s not measurable is the reduction in confusion and frustration. That’s a really important piece.”

And there’s more to come, he told Techwire. Among the takeaways:

• Minimum Viable Product (MVP)-coded prototypes are on the way. His office hasn’t had “a ton of development capability,” Emanavin said, so it has focused on workflow improvements. But during the next couple of months, staffers will likely start building MVP-coded prototypes, leaving those with departments at the end of a project, with the goal of empowering vendors to build.

“We’re going to rely more and more on partners such as yourself," he told the vendors, "to help us not only build these things but to carry the dev ops forward so the department can keep building upon that thing and improving it.” 

• A recent engagement with the Department of State Hospitals has made progress toward reducing the number of days between the commitment date and the admission date for defendants who are declared incompetent to stand trial (IST) and need restoration competency services to face a judge or jury. By convening agencies involved, brainstorming and holding workshops, innovation officials told attendees they were able map the department's process and eliminate redundancy, reducing the time between commitment and admission from an average of 71 days to 20 days. This has been helpful in resolving a lawsuit over the issue.

• In an eight-week project with the Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) last fall, innovation staff helped determine how to automate manual processes, identify gaps in process, and facilitate the sharing of institutional knowledge, leading to the resolution of what had been an 18-month contracting process. DMHC was able to successfully procure the distance measurement calculation software it needed to do approvals for health plans and provide a standard measurement of the distance between a healthcare provider and an enrollee.

• Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed Office of Digital Innovation, announced in January, will likely build on inspiration from sources including CHHS’ new Office of Innovation as well as 18F, the United States Digital Service, the Canadian Digital Service and others. Asked by an attendee whether he was part of planning for the office, Emanavin said he didn’t have exact answers “because we’re still figuring out what works,” adding: “What you’re going to see is a hybrid that works for California.”

Theo Douglas is Assistant Managing Editor of Industry Insider — California.