Health Care Facilitator
About the HCF Program
Overview of the Program
The Health Care Facilitator (HCF) Program is designed to expand health plan customer service to members who are experiencing difficulty dealing with their health care providers in the areas of care access, administrative, benefits coverage, and consumer education issues. Eligible members include active employees and their eligible covered dependents, as well as retirees and their eligible covered dependents. The HCF Program’s overarching goal is to serve the members with a focus on improved access and problem resolution, through one-on-one communications and appropriate interventions, as needed, in relation to delivery of benefits and services under the UC health and welfare plans. The concept of the HCF Program was developed in collaborative effort with members of the Academic Senate’s University Committee on Faculty Welfare, the Council of UC Emeriti Associations, the Council of UC Retiree Associations, UC retirement centers, campus Human Resources and Benefits offices, and the Human Resources and Benefits Department at the Office of the President.
The HCF Program was initiated in 1999 as a pilot program at two UC campus locations. Because of the program’s successful evaluation two years later, the implementation at the remaining UC campuses and the three Lawrence national laboratories (Livermore, Berkeley, and Los Alamos) was approved. In November 2002, the HCF Program at LBNL was implemented. The HCF Program is funded entirely by the UC Office of The President.
Role of the HCF
The HCF assists individuals unable to access satisfactory levels of service when normal channels of assistance are unsuccessful. The HCF intervenes on behalf of the member in the resolution of service complaints.
The HCF provides individualized confidential counseling by phone, email, or in-person. An appointment is strongly preferred for in-person meeting requests.
HCF Advisory Board Members
ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS
Howard Matis
Scientist/Engineer
Karen Springsteen
Retiree
David Wiedrick
Benefits Manager
Nancy Talcott
Human Resources Manager
Cathy Wentworth
Occupational Health Nurse
HONORARY BOARD MEMBER
Peter D. Lichty, MD, MOH
Site Occupational Medicine Director
HCF Advisory Board Roles and Responsibilities
- Sympathetic to the cause of good health care program
- Advisors of the program
- Sources of advice and counsel to HCF program leadership
- Sensitive to the reactions of the members and able to interpret and bridge differences
- Constructive critics of the program
