Year Two: Capturing The Evolution Of Oregon’s CCOs

Oregon’s Coordinated Care Organizations (CCOs) are a type of accountable care organization (ACO); these multi-sector partnerships accept upside and downside risk for both health care costs and quality metrics. And yet CCOs deviate from the traditional accountable care model. Unlike most ACOs, CCOs were created by state regulation, are geographically defined, and are accountable for the Medicaid population, a group of individuals at high risk for psychosocial challenges that impact health outcomes.

Can CCOs offer a means of transforming the delivery system, eliminating disparities, and improving the overall health of the Medicaid population? Or will Oregon’s CCO legislation turn out to be simply a cost-containment strategy for business as usual?

In 2014, we wrote a Health Affairs Blog post covering results from key informant interviews with leaders at two of Oregon’s CCOs: Health Share of Oregon in Portland and PacificSource Community Solutions in Central Oregon. By January 2015, we had conducted 55 additional interviews.

The following blog post provides an overview of the results of those interviews. Building upon the findings detailed in our original post, we now focus on revealing how CCO challenges, achievements, and strategy have shifted during the first two years. Observations on the trajectory of these organizations as they continue to work toward meeting reform goals could help inform decision-makers in other states and systems to build regional accountable care models.