Transformation in Action - Winter 2019

Transformation in Action: Sharing innovation. Celebrating success.

Welcome to the first issue of Transformation in Action! This quarterly newsletter will highlight some of the impressive health system transformation work happening across Oregon coordinated care organizations (CCOs). Thanks for signing up, and feel free to share it with others. – OHA Transformation Center team

Spotlight: Tobacco cessation

Tobacco cessation class helps members quit for good

Like many communities, Cascade Health Alliance uses the American Lung Association’s 7-week “Freedom from Smoking” curriculum. In 2016 their program quit rate hit an all-time high of 57%. Learn how they did it

Lane County tobacco cessation media campaign boosts Quit Line calls

In 2016, Trillium Community Health Plan and Lane County Public Health bolstered a statewide media campaign to promote tobacco cessation. The January–March initiative resulted in a 24% increase in Oregon Tobacco Quit Line callers (from 352 to 435) compared to the prior year during that period. Read the full story

E-referrals increase Tobacco Quit Line referrals in Central Oregon over 4000%

In 2017, PacificSource Community Solutions and the Central Oregon Health Council provided quality incentive measure funding to Deschutes County Health Services to make electronic referrals to the Oregon Tobacco Quit Line possible. At the nine pilot clinics, referrals to the Quit Line increased more than 4,000%. Read the full story

Spotlight: Community health workers

Integrating clinical community health workers into primary care homes

In 2014, InterCommunity Health Network CCO and Benton County Health Services placed clinically trained community health workers in four Samaritan patient-centered primary care homes. Learn how the model is working

Bridges to Health Pathways provides community care coordination

The Columbia Gorge Health Council’s Bridges to Health Pathways program helps community members connect to services including health care, housing, transportation, food and social services. The “bridges” are community health workers who work with households. The model is a cross-sector approach to providing community care coordination. Read the full story

Supporting community colleges to train community health workers

To boost local health system capacity, Advanced Health funded Southwestern Oregon Community College to complete a community health worker curriculum. Providing scholarships to fill the first classes was one way the CCO supported the successful implementation of the program. Read the full story

Transformation Center: What we do

Transformation Center Work and Impact

Learn more about the Oregon Health Authority Transformation Center, including an overview of our work and the impact of our first five years.

CMO Corner: A message from Dana Hargunani, OHA Chief Medical Officer

We know 70% of smokers want to quit, and over half have tried to quit in the past year.1 At the same time, evidence shows that team-based care works – tobacco cessation treatment delivered by a variety of providers doubles quit rates. Having clinicians and care team members, including community health workers (CHWs), ask patients about tobacco use, advise them to quit, and refer them to resources like the Oregon Tobacco Quit Line is a critical component to initiating cessation. CHWs can be integral to tobacco cessation work, especially for certain populations. 

The burden of tobacco use falls hardest on lower-income Oregonians and certain racial and ethnic groups, who use tobacco at higher rates and suffer the harshest consequences of chronic disease. The Community Preventive Service Task Force has found that when interventions engage CHWs and are implemented among communities of color or underserved communities, they can improve health and reduce health disparities.2

Be sure to read the stories here about how CCOs are involving CHWs in their work!

1 CDC Tobacco Fast Facts

2 The Community Guide