March 16, 2018

OHA seeks public comment on CCO 2.0

The Oregon Health Authority is seeking public input on the next phase of Oregon's 5-year-old coordinated care model that has saved taxpayers an estimated $2.2 billion, reduced unnecessary emergency department visits and improved preventive care for children and adults.

In the first phase of coordinated care organizations (CCOs) begun in 2012, state and federal policymakers have learned a lot about what is working and what needs more work to continue transforming the state's health care system.

"We are calling this next phase of health system transformation CCO 2.0, and we are asking for public input to help inform policy recommendations that will be included in the next CCO contract," says Zeke Smith, chairman of the Oregon Health Policy Board, which oversees OHA's work.

The current CCO contracts expire at the end of 2019. The new contracts will start in 2020, but state health care leaders need public input now to help shape the contracts.

"We have made great progress on health system transformation, but we still have work to do to integrate mental health and addiction medicine, to reform payment systems that reward providers for quality over quantity and to support the social structures that often prevent people from getting the health care they need," says OHA Director Patrick Allen.

People can provide feedback in a variety of ways:
--Take the CCO 2.0 survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CCO2-0
--Attend or testify at a public meeting: http://www.oregon.gov/oha/OHPB/Pages/CCO-2-0-meetings.aspx
--Watch for updates on the CCO 2.0 web page: http://www.oregon.gov/oha/OHPB/Pages/CCO-2-0.aspx

OHA will add more public meetings to the schedule, including a series of statewide meetings the last two weeks of June.

Gov. Kate Brown has asked the CCOs for improvements in four areas: http://www.oregon.gov/oha/OHPB/Documents/Gov. Brown%27s Letter to the Board.pdf. OHA has developed work plans in each of these areas:
--Maintain sustainable cost growth in the Oregon Health Plan (OHP): http://www.oregon.gov/oha/OHPB/CCODocuments/Work Plan - Sustainable Spending.pdf
--Increase value-based payments that pay providers for quality and outcomes rather than quantity or volume: http://www.oregon.gov/oha/OHPB/CCODocuments/Work Plan - Paying for Value.pdf
--Focus on social determinants of health and health equity: factors like poverty and housing access that affect health outside of the doctor's office and can result in health disparities: http://www.oregon.gov/oha/OHPB/CCODocuments/Work Plan - Health Equity and Social.pdf
--Improve the behavioral health system, which addresses mental health and addictive disorders: http://www.oregon.gov/oha/OHPB/CCODocuments/Work Plan - Behavioral Health.pdf

CCOs are community-governed health care organizations that coordinate health care for nearly 1 million Oregonians on the Oregon Health Plan (Medicaid). The first CCOs started doing business in Oregon in 2012 with a commitment to improve health, provide better health care, and lower health care spending.

There are now 15 CCOs in Oregon coordinating the physical, mental health, addiction medicine, and dental health care needs of their members.

For more information on CCO 2.0, visit http://www.oregon.gov/oha/OHPB/Pages/CCO-2-0.aspx.

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