Oregon’s first eight coordinated care organizations began serving OHP members on August 1, 2012.
What an amazing year it has been since then.
Today we have 15 CCOs serving more than 90 percent of OHP members. These local groups have been collaborating and innovating in our communities to bring better health, better care and lower costs to the families they serve.
In the Salem area, Willamette Valley Community Health reports that it has reduced expensive emergency department (ED) visits by about 12 percent even as membership has grown. They accomplished this by pairing community health workers with patients who were the highest utilizers of the ED to help determine the true source of the visits and provide better care before an emergency visit would be necessary. They have also convened a clinical advisory panel to notify primary care providers within 24 hours when one of their clients has visited an emergency department. This will help providers reach out quickly to ensure people are getting the best care in the appropriate setting.
And in Lane County, Trillium Community Health Plan has signed on to the national “Million Hearts Initiative.” They’re partnering with providers in their network to help thousands of members prevent heart attacks and stroke using the “ABCS.” That’s Aspirin for people at risk of heart attack, Blood pressure control, Cholesterol management, and Smoking cessation. Trillium is reducing barriers to effective care by clarifying its billing codes and getting the word out to patients and providers about the coverage already available to them.
I am hearing stories like these every day from all the CCOs. I’ll be highlighting more in the future, and you can also read about some of them in the OHA story bank.
At this one-year mark for the first CCOs, we have a lot to celebrate. We are all working together to build a more sustainable system that will truly help improve the health of the people we serve.
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