Enhanced Care Management

CommunityConnect: Helping those with complex needs

CommunityConnect is an Adventist Health service that helps bring Enhanced Care Management to those in many of our communities in California. Enhanced Care Management is a Medi-Cal benefit designed to help people with complex needs or situations get the healthcare and support they need. CommunityConnect is a free service for eligible Medi-Cal members.

Making a difference

Enhanced Care Management (ECM) is a statewide Medi-Cal benefit for adults and children that provides a whole-person approach to care. Adventist Health’s CommunityConnect program provides free support to members in many counties in California.

How CommunityConnect works

Adventist Health Lead Care Managers (LCMs) find and connect with eligible beneficiaries to develop a personalized care plan and help with a range of needs, including:

Finding doctors and scheduling appointments
Traveling to appointments
Understanding treatments and medications
Finding healthy and affordable food
Applying for free or low-cost community services

Our whole-person care plans encompass the physical, emotional, social and behavioral needs of those we serve. To this end, each LCM is supported by a registered nurse and social worker. Our LCMs come from the local community, often sharing ethnicity, language, socioeconomic status, and life experiences with the beneficiaries. This helps with establishing supportive, trusting relationships.

CommunityConnect eligibility

To be eligible for CommunityConnect, members must be in the ECM populations of focus and have Medi-Cal. This includes people experiencing homelessness, mental health issues, and substance abuse as well as elderly people transitioning out of nursing facilities, children in foster care and individuals with a high rate of avoidable emergencies.

If members are eligible for ECM but do not have a primary care provider, we can connect them with an Adventist Health physician in their area.

Partnering with care facilities and community-based organizations

LCMs are here to help members who have recently accessed long-term care, assisted living or skilled nursing facilities to transition to a home setting. We will help residents schedule prepare for, and even accompany them to their appointments. This makes it easier for individuals to attend their appointments and further their health journey.

Additionally, our LCMs are ready to help community-based organizations and the people they assist with care coordination and ensuring clients get the most from all of the potential healthcare and social services available to them. We often provide the extra push clients need to stay healthier, as each client receives a dedicated LCM to help with:

Developing whole-person care plans focused on social, emotional, and behavioral needs
Serving as liaison between members and care providers
Establishing supportive, trusting relationships
Obtaining member consent to enroll in the ECM program