UC San Diego Health, West Health Launch $40M Accelerator for Coordinated Care

The initiative will use digital health technologies, data, and electronic health records (EHRs) to improve coordination throughout a patient’s care journey.

UC San Diego Health and healthcare policy and access nonprofit West Health have launched a six-year, $40 million initiative to develop a technology-enabled model of coordinated care that can be implemented across healthcare settings and eventually shared with health systems nationwide.

The West Health Accelerator at UC San Diego Health will focus on delivering timely and personalized care across hospitals, ambulatory clinics and, where possible, patients’ homes. The initiative will use digital health technologies, data, and electronic health records (EHRs) to improve coordination throughout a patient’s care journey.

The accelerator will be based at UC San Diego Health’s Joan & Irwin Jacobs Center for Health Innovation, which focuses on developing and deploying healthcare technologies. The initiative will also expand the use of advanced technologies and EHR data through the health system’s care coordination “mission control” hub.

“As we expand our geographical footprint and lifesaving medical and surgical programs, the Accelerator will help us to continuously design and deliver coordinated, timely and reliable care across multiple hospital campuses and ambulatory clinics, and when possible, at home, aided by wearable technologies,” said Patty Maysent, CEO of UC San Diego Health.

The program will be led by Theodore (Ted) Chan, M.D., chair of UC San Diego Health’s emergency medicine department and the accelerator’s inaugural executive director. Chan said the teams are working on initiatives involving virtual care platforms and integration of health data into clinical practice.

UC San Diego Health operates three hospitals with more than 1,000 beds, alongside specialty centers and a network of clinics. The academic health system expects the initiative to support care delivery as demand for senior care increases and its geographic footprint expands.

UC San Diego Health and West Health have collaborated for more than a decade on initiatives focused on developing standards for older-patient care. Their work included California’s first accredited senior emergency care unit and efforts that contributed to the expansion of Geriatric Emergency Department accreditations across San Diego County.

West Health has also launched accelerator initiatives with health organizations including Mass General Brigham, Northwestern Medicine and Duke-Margolis. In May, it announced a three-year collaboration with the American Hospital Association’s Research and Education Trust, committing $12 million toward technology adoption and scaling across health systems.

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