Health and Human Services Strategic Plan to Serve as ‘North Star’

The California Health and Human Services Agency (CalHHS) has published what leadership says will serve as an IT “north star” for the massive agency, its stakeholders, and vendor partners.

The IT and Data Strategic Plan — published in March — offers a detailed look at the route the agency is taking concerning the technology that supports the work of 12 departments and nearly 40,000 employees for the state’s nearly 39 million residents.

“This is a long-term vision that necessitates a deliberate and collaborative data and digital transformation across all CalHHS departments, as well as with our essential county and local partners,” authors Adam Dondro, agency chief information officer, and John Ohanian, agency chief data officer, wrote.

The plan outlines three major strategy areas: IT and data strategic objectives, foundations and approaches; IT security; and data privacy.

“The technology itself is available and accessible; the transformation will be in our mindset, our workforce, our partnerships, and our culture,” the authors wrote.

Five major goals fall under the IT and Data Strategic Objectives section. These objectives are person-centered solution strategies; technology integration across programs; solution and data optimization; technology and data to inform decision-making; and equity.

The shift to a more person-centric approach aims to improve how personal information is captured across programs, the report notes, emphasizing collecting information only once and better matching individuals with services. Similarly, the plan outlines a “no-wrong-door” approach to service delivery that the agency is calling a “future digital ecosystem.”

“This will require a reimagined eligibility, application, enrollment, and service management process focused on enrollment, the synergies associated with different combinations, and the value of services collectively and in isolation,” the plan reads.

Solution and data optimization is also a key tenet of the CalHHS strategy moving forward, with a special focus on “building technology and data services that support more than one program” in the service of user experience, lower costs, and ease of maintenance. Data will also help to inform service interaction and health and wellness outcomes.

The equity portion of the strategy focuses on meeting Californians where they are, regardless of their circumstances. This will be achieved through the use of “predictive analytics, intelligent routing, and next-best action to identify appropriate providers, services… .”

“With consent, the State can proactively ‘push’ potentially helpful services to individuals, augmenting their ability to identify services for their wellness independently,” the report notes.

The strategy is built on eight foundational components. They include governance; asset management; data portfolio management; integrated data infrastructure; optimized resource usage; service delivery innovation; workforce development and support; and a culture of deliberate partnership.

As with any modern-day technology initiative, IT security and data privacy are key underpinnings. The strategy outlines the need for consistent, strong cybersecurity posture across all of the programs designed and built by CalHHS, as well as a comprehensive data loss-prevention strategy and the adoption of zero-trust architecture.

“CalHHS will combine Cal-Secure’s three categories of people, process, and technology with the NIST Cybersecurity Framework4 and the Zero Trust Maturity Model5 to achieve its desired level of maturity,” the report notes.