CCCC Annual Report

Originally posted on December 29, 2021

• CCCC conducted six webinars and a virtual conference on Medi-Cal palliative care that were attended by 33 home-based provider organizations and 23 health plans. We also conducted our third annual survey to evaluate the progress we’re making in California providing palliative care to Medi-Cal patients. 
• CCCC continued to pilot test the impact of California’s voluntary consensus standards on the spread and scaling of community-based palliative care. To learn more about the results of this unique initiative, register for our upcoming three-part webinar series. Click here for more information and to register. 
• CCCC co-sponsored SB 353 (Chaptered 488, Statutes 2021), in collaboration with the California Hospice and Palliative Care Association (CHAPCA), to extend a pilot licensing program for hospices so more people have access to home-based palliative care.

• Building off of CCCC’s previous work with persons with developmental disabilities that led to the creation of an advance directive in plain language – Thinking Ahead – CCCC is partnering with two regional centers  – Valley Mountain Regional Center and Alta California Regional Center – which serve a combined 40,000+ people. Through this collaboration, CCCC is developing tools, workflow, and educational curriculum to incorporate advance care planning into their annual individualized planning process.
• CCCC is partnering with UCLA, UCSF, and UCI to test out and compare three methods of engaging patients in advance care planning. This study, which utilizes the PREPARE advance directive, will help determine the level of “touch” required to prompt patients to take action.
• Healthcare providers purchased more than over 1,788 packets of CCCC’s acclaimed Decision Aids and nearly 490 packs of our POLST Consumer Brochure over the past year alone. 

• CCCC’s crowning achievement in 2021 was securing enactment of the California POLST eRegistry Act, along with $10 million in the state budget to support its enactment of a statewide electronic registry for advance care planning documents, including POLST. 
• We successfully advocated for the inclusion of palliative care and advance care planning in California’s 10-year Master Plan on Aging, which lays out goals and strategies to achieving a California for All Ages by 2030.
• CCCC represented the palliative care community during policy discussions regarding long-term supports and services.
• We advocated for consideration and inclusion of palliative care and advance care planning as part of California’s re-shaping of Medi-Cal, known as CalAIM.

• CCCC held six educational webinars providing timely and cutting-edge information from expert speakers. Topics included Moral Injury & Resilience During COVID, Trust as a Key to Reducing Health Disparities, Caring and Commemoration: Creative Models for the Dying in the Face of COVID-19, Using Public Policy to Improve Serious Illness Care, Filling the Gap Between Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, and Communication Skills to Support Quality Palliative Care During Serious Illness. 
• We embraced the virtual conference format and expanded CCCC’s 13th Annual Summit into tri-state event in collaboration with the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association and Hawaii’s Kokua Mau, a movement to improve care. Attendees heard from 16 premier speakers and received 8.5 hours of CEU credit (click here for information on the 2022 Summit). Here are some comments shared by attendees: 
  • “Always the best conference of the year.”
  • “Thank you so much for this exceptional conference. It feels at once cutting edge…and very personally enriching.”
  • “What a great conference – look forward to next year’s!” 
• CCCC continued to offer online courses with CSU that provide comprehensive training for healthcare providers on the topics of advance care planning, POLST, and palliative care.

• CCCC developed and began implementing a business plan for increasing access to our popular patient education materials, including standing up a fully functioning online store.
• We replaced CCCC’s outdated customer relationship management (CRM) technology, and the associated cumbersome processes, with a new state-of-the-art, fully integrated, effective and efficient CRM system where everyone can easily track their membership, donation history, and other engagement. If you haven't yet updated your profile, we encourage you to sign in today.
• Managed seven grants totaling over $1.1 million.

• CCCC formed an Advisory Board  and advisory committees for two specific grant-funded projects, thereby deepening and expanding the breadth of stakeholder input and guidance CCCC receives.
• We continued to involve physician leaders and local coalition members in monthly engagement and support calls to facilitate the sharing of ideas and innovations.
• CCCC created new benefits exclusively for members, including a public policy update webinar and virtual holiday party, to add to the free access to current and past webinars for members.  

Thank you!