​Craig C. Health Improvement Partnership of Santa Cruz County: A Triple Aim Improvement Story. Cambridge, MA: Institute for Healthcare Improvement; October 2015.

This Triple Aim improvement story examines the work of one community pursuing a regional focus to improve population health, and the backbone organization — the Health Improvement Partnership (HIP) of Santa Cruz County, California — that facilitates the local coalition.

HIP was a participating partner in IHI’s Triple Aim Improvement Community from 2009 to 2014. The coalition established the Triple Aim as its guiding framework for improving health outcomes of those served by safety net clinics, with a focus on vulnerable populations — in particular, low-income childless adults, undocumented people, and young entrepreneurs — all of whom had little or no access to health care.

Their work focused on building systems of care, strengthening the safety net, and promoting collaboration to improve health and health care in the community. In addition to helping safety net clinics transform to patient-centered medical homes, HIP also expanded health care coverage, increased clinic capacity, increased Medicare reimbursement rates, and developed a successful Health Navigator Program to support vulnerable people in accessing care and boosting their health outcomes.