Medi-Cal Quality Improvement Strategy: Focus on Tobacco Cessation
The California Smokers’ Helpline and its training and technical assistance arm, the Center for Tobacco Cessation, are pleased to host this free webinar on Thursday, May 7 from 1-2 pm PST. The featured speaker will be Neal Kohatsu, MD, MPH, Medical Director for the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), which serves 11 million Medi-Cal members throughout California.
Webinar Overview
Dr. Kohatsu is charged with coordinating the development and implementation of the Department’s Quality Strategy. He will discuss the Department’s focus on tobacco cessation as a means to improve clinical quality and advance population health. He will address:
- The overall DHCS quality strategy
- Rationale for focusing on tobacco cessation
- Changes due to the Affordable Care Act and Meaningful Use requirements
- DHCS policy letter 14-006 which urges Medi-Cal plans to improve their coverage of tobacco cessation
- Findings from the Medi-Cal Incentives to Quit Smoking (MIQS) Project
- Important collaboration between DHCS, the California Department of Public Health, University of California, and the Helpline
About the Presenter
Dr. Kohatsu was appointed in March 2011 as the first Medical Director for the California Department of Health Care Services which serves approximately 11 million Medi-Cal members, statewide. He is charged with advancing population health and improving clinical quality and is coordinating the development and implementation of the Department’s Quality Strategy. One of the priorities of the Quality Strategy is the elimination of health inequities. Dr. Kohatsu has held leadership positions in the public, private, and academic sectors related to prevention, chronic disease management, quality improvement, and patient safety. Dr. Kohatsu is board-certified in Public Health and General Preventive Medicine. He is a fellow and past president of the American College of Preventive Medicine and is on the Editorial Board of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. He has published research in areas ranging from evidence-based public health to patient safety and is the Associate Editor of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, the leading textbook in the field.
