A heartfelt message from our CEO and CQO

At Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP), our Mission, Vision and Values call on us to serve our community with compassion, innovation and a commitment to quality. After all, we are known as "the health plan with a heart."

To us, a heart for Optimal Care means we work hard every day to do better and be better for those who rely on us to be their advocate and their voice when it comes to getting the quality health and wellness services they need and deserve.

Jarrod McNaughton, MBA, FACHE Chief Executive Officer

For example, after two years of focusing on how to help our Members survive a pandemic, it was a huge milestone to finally reopen our Community Resource Centers in San Bernardino, Riverside and Victorville. On-site classes, programs and resources were welcomed back with open arms.

Also in 2022, IEHP came up with innovative ways to serve our 47,000 new Members in Blythe, Needles, Trona and the other rural areas that were added to our service area through CalAIM. Many of these new Members – historically forgotten in terms of access to health care services – had gone through some very challenging times and needed other resources as well, such as food and housing assistance. From fresh fruit deliveries to supporting local events, IEHP made sure residents knew we were a part of the community – their community.

Edward Juhn, MD, MBA, MPH Chief Quality Officer

This past year, we also placed even greater importance on our relationships with our Partners, especially Providers. Monthly engagement dinners and a significant increase in dollars allocated to our Pay-for-Performance programs were just two examples of IEHP’s commitment to connecting, supporting and learning from our Providers.

That’s not to say clinical measures took a back seat in 2022. In fact, despite the global pandemic, IEHP was able to maintain its 3.5 overall NCQA Medicaid Health Plan Rating. Specifically, strong performance was noted in medication adherence for patients with diabetes, cardiovascular disease and newly diagnosed depression and timely postpartum care.

But we must do better.

We found opportunities to increase the rate of pediatric preventive care, including ways to offer these services in new places such as pharmacies, schools and mobile units.

As always, this year’s quality report is a transparent look into all of our quality performance, providing insights to inspire new creative solutions and meet our Members and Providers where they need us most. Your continued partnership and commitment to ensuring our Members have access to quality health care are appreciated.

We can’t do this without you.

Sincerely,

Edward Juhn, MD, MBA, MPH Chief Executive Officer Chief Quality Officer

Jarrod McNaughton, MBA, FACHE

HEART HANDS: These "heart hands" belong to Maria N. Gutierrez-Go, MD, a Provider spotlighted in the Partners in Quality feature. Learn more on pages 18-19 about what inspires Dr. Gutierrez-Go as well as some of her Inland Empire colleagues.