Leaning In: Oregon’s Coordinated Care Organizations (CCOs)

Far from the epicenter of Washington, DC, and the federal government’s efforts to expand health insurance coverage and usher in health care delivery and payment reform, states are moving ahead with amazing innovations of their own these days. Medicaid waivers, which offer states running room to experiment with public dollars, are one big reason. And one big example of what’s possible is unfolding in Oregon.
 
No stranger to trail-blazing with transformative ideas and initiatives, Oregon’s latest efforts to provide better care and value to nearly one million Medicaid recipients will be the focus of the May 7, 2015, WIHI: Leaning In: Oregon’s Coordinated Care Organizations (CCOs). The groundwork and the enabling policies and legislation forCCOs have been several years in the making, and the careful shaping of the program is leading to some impressive results. Since 2011, emergency department visits are down 21 percent, preventable hospital admissions among adults for complications associated with diabetes have decreased nearly 10 percent, and enrollment in Patient-Centered Primary Care Homes has increased 55 percent.
 
And what about Oregon putting itself on a global budget with a fixed rate of growth – how is that going? We’re going to find out about the money, the care, the measures, how the 16 CCOs across the state function as one system, the innovative use of community health workers and more, thanks to two key people in the know from the Oregon Health Authority’s Transformation Center: Chris DeMars and Ronald Stock. They’re eager to share what they’re learning and to field your comments and questions. IHI’s Trissa Torres will offer commentary about this work, discuss how it relates to the Triple Aim and changes in primary care happening everywhere, and suggest ways to apply what’s happening in Oregon to your own state and setting. Please join us for the May 7 WIHI!