Community meetings
During September and October, the Oregon Health Authority visited communities across the state to talk about transforming health care. We invited citizens, Oregon Health Plan clients, health care providers and clinicians to learn about Coordinated Care Organizations and to share local innovations that are helping build the foundation for better health.
This new vision for the Oregon Health Plan is designed to deliver better care and lower costs. Under the bipartisan legislation of House Bill 3650, lawmakers set the direction for Coordinated Care Organizations (CCOs) to administer how care is delivered through OHP.
From Astoria to Medford, we met with and heard from over 1,000 Oregonians.
Statewide concerns
Although each community has unique needs, some common insights were shared.
- Oregonians want a new way to access health care that addresses a patient's entire well-being.
- Residents are ready for a change to get costs under control. It's clear that Oregonians know the current system brings great risk, and if allowed to go on as is, will eat up an increasing share of the state's public and private resources.
Those who were unable to attend were invited to offer ideas via an online survey. OHA received 276 online responses. All of the input gathered will be provided to the Oregon Health Policy Board as they develop the final proposal for CCOs. The proposal will be presented to the Legislature in February 2012 for approval.
Local meeting highlights
Roseburg meeting agenda
Medford — Sept. 27
Medford meeting agenda
Pendleton — Oct. 3
Pendleton meeting agenda
Florence — Oct. 5
Florence meeting agenda
Bend — Oct. 6
Bend meeting agenda
Portland — Oct. 10
Portland meeting agenda
Eugene — Oct. 12
Eugene meeting agenda
Astoria — Oct. 13
Astoria meeting agenda
At each of the meetings, health care representatives introduced the concept of CCOs, as well as provided a financial overview of the current system challenges.
On the road was Mike Bonetto, Health Policy Advisor for Governor John Kitzhaber; Bruce Goldberg, M.D., Director, Oregon Health Authority; and Sean Kolmer, Assistant Health Policy Advisor for the Governor. In several communities they were joined by a local innovator, someone who is already working on delivering health care in a new, better and local way.
Meeting attendees, who represented OHP clients, health care providers and others broke into groups and discussed how CCOs can best serve their community, as well as patient and provider accountability, services and other unique needs.
To the right is a list of the eight community meetings, as well as the agenda. The agenda includes a list of discussion questions, as well as the name of the local innovator who joined the conversation. Check back soon, as we'll be providing a more detailed summary of each community's meeting.
