Equity & Practice Transformation (EPT) Program
Holistic management and support for DHCS
Accelerating practice transformation at statewide scale
The Equity and Practice Transformation (EPT) Program is one of the largest practice transformation efforts in California history, designed to help primary care practices strengthen population health management, advance health equity, and improve quality and value for Medi-Cal members.
The Population Health Learning Center (PHLC) serves as the Program Office and technical assistance lead, combining aligned payment incentives with practical, hands-on implementation support across the state. The majority of participating practices serve communities with lower Healthy Places Index scores, helping direct resources toward populations facing greater structural inequities.
Project At A Glance
Timeline
2024 – 2026
Project Stage
Implementation
FUNDERS
California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
PROGRAMMATIC FUNCTIONS
- Improves performance on aligned quality measures
- Reduces disparities for populations of focus
- Builds durable capabilities for data‑driven, team‑based care
Our Impact
180
Primary care practices participating statewide
2M +
Medi-Cal members served by participating practices
52
California Counties Reached
19
Managed care plans aggregating data through the program
8 in 10
Eligible practices have submitted stratified HEDIS data
What’s happening now
Participating practices are completing major milestones across empanelment, care team design, clinical guidelines, outreach and engagement, and data governance. PHLC has built and is operating the supporting infrastructure: a statewide network of coaches and subject matter experts, the PopHealth+ eLearning platform, multi-level data aggregation across 15 health plans, and ongoing peer learning that connects practices to each other and to expert content. All participating practices have completed population health capability assessments, and the large majority have adopted data governance policies and procedures.
What we’re learning
Aligned payment incentives accelerate practice transformation, but only when paired with practical, hands-on implementation support. Across more than 200 participating practices, milestone progress has been fastest in domains where coaching, peer learning, and shared tools are tightly integrated with the underlying payment milestone, and slower where progress depends on data infrastructure changes that sit outside the practice’s direct control. The practices making the most durable progress are those that have used EPT funding to redesign care team workflows rather than to add isolated activities on top of existing operations. Stratified data submission has also surfaced where measurement infrastructure is strong across the state and where investment is still needed.
Select EPT Resources & Learnings
CASE STUDY
Empanelment: From Theory to Practice
Connecting patients and improving continuity with a small, independent practice.
PATIENT RESOURCE
Creating a Family Plan: A Workbook for Immigrant Families
A tool to help parents who are facing a possible deportation make a plan for the care of their minor children in the event of a separation.
PROVIDER RESOURCE
Care Cap Guide: A Practice Facilitation Blueprint
Help improve how your practice identifies and closes care gaps with the Care Gap Guide.
Are you an active participant in this program?
Visit your program portal for resources, deliverable information, deadlines, webinars and other program information.