Santa Barbara, CA – March 12, 2019 - CenCal Health, the Medi-Cal health plan for Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, recently established a partnership with Healthwise, a leader in evidence-based health education, to provide an interactive health education library for its local communities. Available directly on the CenCal Health website, this online library contains thousands of health education topics and hundreds of videos with supporting content.  Content is available in both English and Spanish, and at no cost. The health tool is accessible to CenCal Health members, physician providers, and the general public.

Finding reliable health information online can be challenging for a variety of reasons, including the abundance of misinformation and the high-literacy content or “medical-speak” that limits accessibility for people not knowledgeable about health and medicine. Recent data from the National Assessment of Adult Literacy shows that only 12% of U.S. adults have proficient health literacy, which refers to the ability to obtain, communicate, process, and understand health information and services in order to make appropriate health decisions.

CenCal Health’s purchase and promotion of this educational library is an effective way for the health plan to provide easy-to-use, actionable health information to CenCal Health members and the communities it serves. The library offers symptom checkers, information to help patients prepare for medical tests and procedures, and interactive tools like decision aids, that help consumers talk to their doctor and make health decisions. It uses plain language and content is also available in Spanish, resulting in a user-friendly health and wellness tool for all.

“The program provides valuable health resources for our providers, case managers, and especially our health plan members,” said Dr. Karen Hord, Senior Medical Director at CenCal Health. “It’s a great place to get reliable health information. For example, if someone has a health concern that they aren’t ready to talk to their doctor about, say, symptoms of a Sexually Transmitted Disease or anxiety, they can use the content on the CenCal Health website to do self-assessments, watch videos, and get tips for how and when to seek treatment.”

“We’re excited about our partnership with CenCal Health, and the impact we can make by getting health education to people when they need it the most,” said Dave Mink, Chief Client Officer for Healthwise.

CenCal Health members, local healthcare providers, and the general public can access this interactive health education library directly from the CenCal Health website – via the Health & Wellness navigation tab – at cencalhealth.org

About CenCal Health

Serving the community since 1983, CenCal Health provides comprehensive health coverage to nearly 180,000 men, women and children enrolled in Medi-Cal. This regional health plan partners with over 1,500 local physicians and other providers to deliver quality patient care to approximately 1 in 4 residents of Santa Barbara County and 1 in 5 residents of San Luis Obispo County. CenCal Health also collaborates with community-based organizations to address social determinants of health while increasing members’ access to medical care and reducing costs. The oldest Medicaid managed care plan of its kind, CenCal Health is a not-for-profit agency that employs close to 250 people at offices in both Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. For more information, visit cencalhealth.org.

About Healthwise

Healthwise is a nonprofit organization with a mission to help people make better health decisions. People have turned to Healthwise information more than 2 billion times to learn how to do more for themselves, ask for the care they need, and say “no” to the care they don’t need. Healthwise partners with hospitals, electronic medical record (EMR) providers, health plans, care management companies, and health websites to provide up-to-date, evidence-based information to the people they serve. healthwise.org.  1.800.706.9646

CenCal Health Contact:
Nicolette Worley Marselian
(805) 685-9525 ext 1993
nworleymarselian@cencalhealth.org

Media Contact:
Sheri Mobley
(805) 845-5627
sheri@seamlesspr.com

Healthwise Media Contact:
Sonja Deines
(208) -489-8481
sdeines@healthwise.org