Blue Cross of California, State Sponsored Business Unit

Blue Cross of California, State Sponsored Business Unit (SSB), has designed a Comprehensive Asthma Intervention Program (CAIP) to improve care for California Medi-Cal and Healthy Families members with asthma. Because standard asthma management programs seldom address the needs of all members in a culturally and linguistically diverse, low-income population, like the Blue Cross SSB membership, who often face environmental health challenges, CAIP encompasses innovative partnerships with members, providers, academic institutions, public health organizations, and communities, to maximize opportunities for improved asthma outcomes. CAIP includes individual member outreach; resources and incentives for physicians and pharmacists to encourage improved asthma care; Plan/Practice Improvement Project (PPIP), a collaboration modeled after the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's Breakthrough Series, to enhance asthma chronic care through practice-specific redesign; Valley Air Quality Project, a county-specific partnership to improve community responses to environmental air pollution affecting the respiratory health of Fresno County, where asthma prevalence is high.