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OHA Director Pat Allen and Director of
Health Policy and Analytics Jeremy Vandehey recently put in more than 2,000
miles of windshield time as they traveled the state speaking with more than 500
Oregonians about the future of the Oregon Health Plan. From Astoria to Ontario,
Hood River to Klamath Falls, they asked Oregonians for input on five “big
ideas” to improve our state’s innovative coordinated care system:
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Improve behavioral
health:
Give OHP members immediate access to mental health and substance use treatment
without having to navigate the system on their own.
-
Address social
factors that affect health and health disparities: Improve
housing, nutrition and transportation for OHP members so they can stay
healthier.
-
Reduce health
care costs:
Keep health care inflation in line with growth in the cost of living by
rewarding CCOs for delivering care more efficiently and working with our
partners to control drug costs.
-
Pay for better
health:
Pay more health care providers for improving patient health and lowering costs,
not for the volume of visits they provide.
-
Improve
transparency and accountability: Ensure CCOs are more accountable to
members and their communities.
We heard clearly that these are the
right priorities for our state. We also heard that CCOs can’t do this work
alone – schools, local non-profits and public health departments want to play a
bigger role in health transformation and help find solutions to the social
factors that can undermine good health for OHP members. The core of Oregon’s
bi-partisan health reform success is that CCOs have local roots and
connections. That was evidenced across our 10-city tour as we heard people talk
about efforts CCOs have made to support programs that tackle local problems,
support their community advisory councils, and partner with local organizations
to develop effective community health improvement plans.
Community members also emphasized the
need for a continued focus on integrating oral health and for more providers in
rural communities so people have greater access to care. Providers told us
they’re interested in pay-for-health innovations, but they’re cautious about
the pace of those changes. The OHA takeaways from the CCO 2.0 summer community
meetings were presented to the Oregon Health Policy Board (OHPB) at the July meeting.
Over the next several weeks, OHA will also participate in listening sessions with
culturally specific community organizations and begin a phone survey to a
representative sample of OHP members.
In Case You
Missed It
Director Allen recently met with the editorial
board of the Oregonian about CCO
2.0.
Important
Upcoming Dates
OHPB and CCOs meeting: July 30, 10 a.m. to noon, Portland State
Office Building, Room 1B, 800 NE Oregon St, Portland
OHPB August meeting: August 7, 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., OHSU Center
for Health and Healing, Portland
OHPB September meeting: September 11,
8:30 a.m. to noon, OHSU Center for Health and Healing, Portland
OHPB October meeting: October 10, 8:30
a.m. to noon, OHSU Center for Health and Healing, Portland
The Oregon Health Authority is
looking for visionary health care leaders who can carry on our agency’s
progress in health system transformation. The positions under recruitment are
chief financial officer, behavioral health director, and PEBB/OEBB director.
Oregon is at an important milestone
of its health system transformation journey. Oregon’s Medicaid reforms and the
coordinated care model have saved taxpayers an estimated $2.2 billion since
2012. Oregon has also improved health quality and outcomes, including effective
contraceptive use, follow-up after hospitalization for mental illness, and
dental sealants for kids.
We also know there are many
opportunities for improvement, and Governor Kate Brown has tasked OHA with
focused improvements in the next phase of our transformation journey – in
paying for better outcomes, influencing factors outside
of the clinical setting that impact Oregonians’ health, such as housing, and in behavioral health, which includes mental health and addiction recovery. We understand the importance of focusing efforts on reducing
addiction and increasing addiction recovery rates, and we are looking for a dedicated change agent to transform our behavioral health system into one that improves
outcomes for all
Oregonians suffering
from mental health issues or the disease of addiction.
These new leaders will be critical
drivers of OHA’s next push for better outcomes, better care, and sustainable
costs.
Please see the links below for the
recruitment details:
Chief Financial Officer
Behavioral Health Director
PEBB/OEBB Director
Temporary rules filed in late June and
effective July 1 require drinking water suppliers that meet certain criteria,
such as drawing from or purchasing surface water sources where there has been
harmful algal blooms, to start testing their water for toxins from
cyanobacteria responsible for these blooms.
The rules were developed by OHA Drinking
Water Services, with input from drinking water systems.
They also require Oregon water suppliers
to issue “do-not-drink” advisories if routine and confirmation water samples
test above any health advisory level, including those for either vulnerable or
general populations.
The rules apply to two cyanotoxins for
which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established health
advisory levels. They affect between 150 and 200 water suppliers with surface
water sources and water systems that purchase water from these suppliers.
The rules will remain in place through
Dec. 27. In the meantime OHA will develop permanent cyanotoxin testing rules
through a public process this fall.
See the rules at on the OHA
Drinking Water Safety webpage.
OHA is “taking steps to maintain the
integrity of Oregon's Medical Marijuana Program and make sure medical products
reach the patients who need them,” according to OHA Director Patrick Allen.
This after an internal review of the OMMP uncovered administrative shortcomings
that let growers, dispensaries and laboratories operate without effective
oversight.
The review also highlighted statutory
restrictions that have limited OMMP's ability to answer information requests
from local law enforcement officials, even as the program protects patient
confidentiality. Together, the issues increased the risk for medical marijuana
to be diverted from patients, who rely on cannabis to treat medical conditions,
into the black market.
Allen requested the study in response to
changing demands on OMMP in the wake of 2014’s voter approval of legalized
recreational marijuana sales.
In response to the findings, the program
is requiring dispensaries, processors and certain growers to use the OLCC’s
Cannabis Tracking System (CTS). It’s also requiring patients to provide proof
of address when processing applications, to help validate grow site locations.
In addition, OMMP will take enforcement action against participants who don't
comply with reporting requirements, whether reporting in CTS or in OMMP's monthly
reporting system.
Finally, a viable destruction protocol
has been finalized and is now in use. See the report at on the OMMP website.
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