University of California Health is bullish on its future, even as the state's five medical centers confront a challenging payer mix that's rapidly shifting to Medicaid.
The system is projecting growth as it comes off a building campaign and, like most health systems, continues to transition to value-based care.
At an investor presentation at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference last week, executives outlined efforts to increase collaboration among their hospitals in order to increase their purchasing power, cut costs and manage care for special populations.
UC Health recently completed a seven-year, $1.6 billion capital campaign that supported a new campus for the University of California at San Francisco in the city's Mission Bay neighborhood. The campus includes a women's hospital, a children's hospital, a cancer center and outpatient services.
But while the public health system is in building mode, it is also facing the reality of operating in a state where one-third of the population is now covered by Medicaid.
Although California is no longer dealing with a deficit from earlier in the decade, Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed fiscal 2017 budget has come under fire for not rolling back the recession-era rate cuts implemented in 2011.
California's Medicaid rates are among the lowest in the country relative to Medicare rates, according to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
UC Health's medical centers are working more closely with each other and jointly developing strategies for cost reductions, clinical service lines and managing care for special populations, including a systemwide Medicaid strategy. —Beth Kutscher
