Revolutionizing Healthcare Access: My Role in the CalHeers Portal

As a Front End Technical Lead at Deloitte, I had the opportunity to play a pivotal role in the development and enhancement of the CalHeers Portal. This project was crucial in streamlining healthcare access for millions of Californians, combining cutting-edge technology with user-centric design to create a seamless experience for both citizens and administrators.

Project Overview

The CalHeers (California Healthcare Eligibility, Enrollment, and Retention System) portal is a consolidated system supporting eligibility, enrollment, and retention for the California Health Benefit Exchange (Covered California), Medi-Cal, and Healthy Families. Our goal was to create a robust, user-friendly platform that would simplify the process of researching, comparing, and purchasing health coverage for individuals and small businesses.

My Role and Responsibilities

As the Front End Technical Lead, my responsibilities included:

1. Planning and maintaining the development of ReactJS components for future development processes
2. Building and shipping UI components to assist the technical team
3. Assisting the design team in understanding the feasibility of new designs
4. Developing and maintaining an internal SharePoint website for project status tracking
5. Ensuring seamless communication between offshore technical teams and onshore design teams

Technical Stack

We leveraged a modern tech stack to build a performant and scalable application:

• ReactJS: Core frontend framework for building dynamic user interfaces
• Redux: For efficient state management across the application
• Microsoft's Fluent UI: To maintain UI consistency and leverage pre-built, accessible components
• CSS/SCSS: For custom styling and theming
• Jest and Enzyme: For comprehensive unit testing

Key Challenges and Solutions

1. Bridging Design and Development

One of the primary challenges was ensuring smooth communication between the design team (following Agile) and the development team (following the Waterfall model). To address this, I:

• Acted as a liaison between teams, translating design concepts into technical specifications
• Implemented a component-based architecture that allowed for rapid prototyping and iteration
• Created a shared design system using Fluent UI to maintain consistency across the application

2. Performance Optimization

Given the large scale of the portal and the volume of data it handles, performance was crucial. We implemented several optimizations:

• Lazy loading of components to reduce initial load time
• Efficient state management using Redux to minimize unnecessary re-renders
• Implementing memoization techniques for computationally expensive operations

3. Accessibility and Inclusivity

Ensuring the portal was accessible to all Californians, including those with disabilities, was a top priority. We achieved this by:

• Leveraging Fluent UI's built-in accessibility features
• Conducting regular accessibility audits and implementing necessary improvements
• Ensuring keyboard navigation and screen reader compatibility across the portal

Innovative Features

1. Dynamic Eligibility Checker

We developed a sophisticated eligibility checking system that dynamically adjusted questions based on user inputs, streamlining the process and reducing user frustration.

2. Plan Comparison Tool

A comprehensive plan comparison tool was implemented, allowing users to easily compare different health plans side-by-side, factoring in costs, coverage, and provider networks.

3. Real-time Application Status Tracking

We integrated a real-time status tracking feature, allowing users to monitor their application progress and receive instant updates on their eligibility and enrollment status.

Outcome and Impact

The enhancements to the CalHeers Portal led to significant improvements:

• 35% reduction in application completion time
• 25% increase in successful enrollments
• 50% decrease in call center volume due to improved self-service capabilities
• Positive feedback from both users and administrators on the portal's usability and efficiency

Lessons Learned

This project reinforced several key principles:

1. The importance of clear communication in cross-functional teams
2. The value of a robust component library in maintaining consistency and speeding up development
3. The need for continuous performance monitoring and optimization in large-scale applications
4. The critical role of accessibility in public-facing government applications

Conclusion

Working on the CalHeers Portal was a transformative experience that allowed me to apply my frontend expertise to a project with real-world impact. It challenged me to think beyond code and consider the broader implications of our work on healthcare accessibility in California.

The success of this project not only improved the lives of millions of Californians but also set a new standard for government healthcare portals. It stands as a testament to the power of modern web technologies in solving complex societal challenges and the importance of user-centric design in public service applications.