The UCR School of Medicine and UCR Health (jointly “UCR SOM”) regularly enter into affiliations with other health care organizations to improve quality and access for members of the University community and the people of the State of California, particularly those in medically underserved communities, and to support the University of California’s education and research mission.

Purpose: The purpose of these internal guidelines is to document the contracting process by which UCR SOM Contracting Department implements the University of California, Presidential Policy:  Affiliations with Certain Health Care Organizations, effective 12/1/2023 (“Presidential Policy”) and University of California Regents Policy 4405.

For more information, visit: UCOP’s Regents Policy 4405: Policy on Affiliations with Healthcare Organizations that Have Adopted Policy-Based Restrictions on Care

General Requirements for Affiliation Agreements

• All arrangements, agreements, or understandings in which UCR SOM obligates itself or its resources to another entity or unit undergo a standard process of review and approval. This is intended to reduce organizational risk and avoid operational inefficiencies. Final agreements shall clarify and define the arrangements between the parties, be in writing, and be executed by authorized signatories.
• The standard UCR SOM contracting process is documented in the workflows attached as appendix C, which may be updated from time to time. Covered affiliations shall include additional documentation and shall be subject to additional internal review and approval, consistent with the presidential policy.
  • Limited affiliations and public affiliations are not subject to the additional documentation requirements of these guidelines.
• The UCR SOM department requesting the covered affiliation shall be responsible for alerting the contracting department that the other party is an entity with policy-based restrictions. The contracting department also may self-identify such entities.
• UCR SOM shall not enter any new covered affiliation that fails to meet the requirements of the presidential policy.

UC Health Non-Discrimination Addendum

• Covered affiliations must be subject to the terms and conditions of the non-discrimination addendum, attached as appendix A, which is based upon the template issued by the University’s Office of General Counsel and which the University’s Office of General Counsel may modify from time to time.
• The contracting department shall arrange for execution of the non-discrimination addendum as part of its standard contract review and execution process. If the other party seeks to negotiate the non-discrimination addendum, the contracting department shall work with UCR SOM legal counsel.
• Any material deviation from the standard non-discrimination addendum language must be escalated to UCR health counsel and the vice chancellor for health sciences/UCR chancellor or designee for further review to confirm that the non-standard language substantively adheres to all requirements of Regents Policy 4405 and the presidential policy. If there is no vice chancellor for health sciences, the escalation shall be made to the chancellor or chancellor’s designee.

Covered Org Affiliations Checklist

• For all covered affiliations, the UCR SOM department requesting the arrangement shall complete an affiliations checklist, attached at appendix B, which is based on the template issued as part the presidential policy and may be modified from time to time.
• The SOM department requesting the arrangement must document the rationale for the affiliation, including:
  1. any risks and anticipated benefits to the university’s education, research and service missions;
  2. any risks and anticipated benefits to the broader patient community;
  3. the consequences of not proceeding with the affiliation.
• The completed affiliations checklist will be reviewed and approved as part of the standard contracting department workflow. The contracting department will not accept a checklist unless it contains comprehensive explanations.

For additional information and details of this workflow process, contact the contracts team who will provide guidance.