Butte

Health Reimagined in Butte County
In Butte County, a rural community in Northern California where the town of Paradise was devasted by the Camp Fire in 2018, access to health care is an ongoing challenge.
Pilot program participant
Paradise Medical Group
Key initiatives
Virtual care
Virtual visits
Patients receive customized care virtually through PMG Connect, which allows patients to set up medical virtual visits with their providers at Paradise Medical Group via mobile phone, tablet, or personal computer. The service is available for pediatric and adult patients at Paradise Medical Group.
eConsultations
A provider-to-provider platform, eConsultations allows primary care providers to electronically consult with board-certified specialists covering 70 specialty areas. Providers receive timely advice from specialists through an e-consultation delivered within 24 to 72 hours of the initial request, which they can use to comprehensively address patient-care issues. This approach is highly effective and convenient for both providers and patients.
eTranscription/Virtual assistant
Virtual assistant technologies are inuse at Paradise Medical Group to improve the patient experience and automate administrative workflows for physicians. Using smart watches, physicians record and document patient visits. The information is populated seamlessly into electronic health records, helping physicians and administrators save time – as much as two hours each day. Pre-visit technologies offer patients a streamlined check-in process via their smart phone, and post-visit technologies optimize entry of orders and procedures to generate claims that are more accurate.
Community Health Advocate Program
Aimed at promoting preventive measures to help manage member health and identify health risks, the Blue Shield-funded Community Health Advocate Program provides personalized, in-home, high-touch care, integrated with innovative technology and collaborative communitygroups. Among services community health advocates provide are:
o Acting as a liaison with local community and health care organizationso Coordinating quality healthcare and community resourceso Reducing social challenges and barriers to achieving positive health outcomeso Increasingaccess to services and care coordination
Innovative payment model
The value-based care payment model with Paradise Medical Group is designed to give physicians the flexibility and financial resources they need to deliver essential and specialized medical services to patients. Providers are accountable for patient-centered outcomes they can control and aren’t burdened with additional administrative tasks. Fundamental to this value-based approach is the opportunity for expanded patient visits and compensation for care-coordination. Expanded visits allow physicians and members of the extended care team to spend more time examining patients in a holistic way. These visits also enable the care team to see patients more often as their circumstances and diagnoses change (e.g., a significant new diagnosis or change in an existing diagnosis, change in a life situation that impacts health, or identification of high-risk health condition).
Blue Shield of California is an independent licensee of the Blue Shield Association.
Where we’re starting
We’re piloting programs for Health Reimagined in four distinctly different regions throughout the state. Each county has unique qualities to help us understand which approaches are most effective.